Bekasi evicts street vendors

BEKASI: At least 500 street vendors along Jl. Juanda in Bekasi were evicted on Tuesday by public order officers. Their permits to use the street expired on the eve of the Idul Fitri holiday.

The head of Public Order Agency, Dedi Djuanda, said on Wednesday that Bekasi Mayor Akhmad Zurfaih gave the street vendors permission to stay only until a day before Idul Fitri.

"They broke their promise and were still there even after Idul Fitri. We wouldn't have evicted them forcefully if they had complied with the mayor's time limit," said Dedi.

He added that all the vendors had been given warning letters stating that they would be evicted unless they moved from the area by Nov. 13.

Several vendors admitted that they had known that there would be an eviction but chose to stay there because of the good income they could obtain.

"I don't want to say how much I get from trading here. But it's enough to buy new clothes for my children and cakes for Idul Fitri," said Hidayat, 35, who hails from Karawang, West Java. -- Antara