Agency seeks more power in enforcing market bylaw

Agency seeks more power in enforcing market bylaw

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City Cooperatives and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises
Agency said over the weekend that it was seeking more power to
force malls and shopping centers to provide floor space for small
vendors in line with the prevailing regulation.

Bylaw No. 2/2002 on markets regulates that every mall and
shopping center must provide between 10 percent and 20 percent
of their premises for small vendors. Failure to comply with the
regulation could result in a fine of Rp 5 million or three months
imprisonment for mall or shopping center owners.

The bylaw, however, does not stipulate any sanctions for
owners found to have repeatedly failed to implement the bylaw
after being warned.

"None of them abide by the regulation as no city agency is
assigned to handle the enforcement of the regulation," agency
head Sukri Bey told The Jakarta Post.

For that reason, Sukri said, his agency was proposing that
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso give the agency a stronger hand to
ensure the management of malls or shopping centers meet their
obligation.

He said that most malls and shopping centers preferred to pay
a compensation and fine rather than designate special areas for
small vendors.

Under the previous bylaw that was replaced by Bylaw No.
2/2002, mall and shop owners may pay an amount to the city
administration as compensation in exchange for floor space for
vendors.

The practice, however, continues even until now despite the
fact that Bylaw No. 2/2002 does not allow mall and shop owners to
do so.

Many people, including city councillors, say that allowing
businesspeople to pay a fee in compensation opens the door to
corruption, as much of the money does not in fact go to the small
vendors.

The bylaw has raised strong opposition from the business
community which claimed that the stipulation could scare off
investors and infringed on their rights to manage their own
properties.

The Association of Indonesian Real Estate Companies (REI), the
Association of Indonesian Retailers and the Association of
Indonesian Shopping Center Managements have filed a lawsuit with
the State Administrative Court over the bylaw. The court ruled in
favor of the retail and property businesses in the case last year
and told the administration to revoke the bylaw. However, the
city administration has appealed the verdict.

Councillor Muhamad Rusly of the United Development Party (PPP)
faction lamented the administration's failure to help small
vendors develop their businesses.

"The administration only managed to give assistance to 4,930
small vendors last year, a very slight increase from 4,910
vendors in 2003," Rusly said.

Jakarta has more than 141,000 vendors in different locations
across the capital.

"We urge the administration to give serious attention to small
vendors whose businesses are experiencing a downward turn due to
rapid development of hypermarkets in the city," Rusly said.

Rusly also called on the administration to revise the bylaw,
saying that the revision was necessary to solve its conflict with
the property and retail businesses.

Separately, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso welcomed the call to
revise the bylaw, saying that his administration would
immediately prepare the revision.