264 traders protest

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)