264 traders protest

BEKASI (JP): A total of 264 vendors operating at the Pondok Gede Market in Bekasi are complaining about the new one-meter wide alleyways which they say are too narrow.

M. Pasaribu, one of the vendors, said they were used to the old passageways of one-and-a-half meters.

He said yesterday that the narrow alleys will be jammed by shoppers and this will ultimately create inconvenience for them.

Meanwhile, Sunardi Lesmana of PT Surya Bintang Mitra, the developer which is renovating the market, said the protest was groundless because the new passageways were constructed on the approval of the Bekasi administration.

The Pondok Gede market is being renovated into a three-story market building covering 9,800 square meters of land with the ability to accommodate 2,054 stalls. The renovation cost reached Rp 27.56 billion (US$12,706,316).

The market's chief, Donnie Setiawan, said the market will be officially opened on Aug. 15 in conjunction with the regency's 44th anniversary. (03/12)