Bogor traders ask to retain their kiosks

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Bogor traders whose kiosks in the Pasar Kebon Kembang market were ravaged by fire last month do not want a major renovation of their stalls.

The traders said yesterday that total renovation or renewal of the market building would result in the eviction of old traders.

"We've learned through experience. The market building has been destroyed by fires before. After the 1987 fire the administration renovated the building and old traders were not allowed to get their kiosks back. I myself had to use my brother's name to apply for a new kiosk," Budi Sihabuddin, a kiosk owner, said.

New traders with more money might get the kiosks, while the old traders would be evicted, said Budi.

He said kiosk owners had proposed minor repairs instead. "We don't want new kiosks, or we will start from zero again when we have to pay for the new kiosks in monthly installments," Budi said.

Other traders shared the same opinion, saying that their kiosks were slightly damaged. "The Ramayana Department Store was totally destroyed, not our kiosks," a trader, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.

Usman Zakaria, an assistant to the Bogor mayor, told The Jakarta Post that a special team under the Directorate General of Human Settlement at the Ministry of Public Works has been studying all the technical aspects of the building after the fire. No decision has yet been made whether the market building needs total renovation, he said.

Zakaria said the traders' worry was a positive input to the authorities. "We do not want the 1987 story to be repeated. We want the old traders to get their kiosks back," he said.

The local administration has built 672 temporary kiosks for the traders whose kiosks were destroyed.

Bogor Mayor Eddy Gunardi had earlier said a total of 2,766 temporary kiosks would be built.

Each kiosk, made of wooden planks, has a two-meter square floor.

The building of temporary kiosks has apparently disrupted local traffic. "We will detour the traffic around the market," Zakaria said.

The Pasar Kebon Kembang fire hit the headlines after the mayor Eddy announced that only 10 people were killed in the fire, while press reports said that more than 70 people were killed. The controversy ended when the authorities, including police officers, forensic experts and pathologists, officially declared that only 10 people were killed in the fire.

Bogor Police Chief Dadang Garnida told the Post on Wednesday his office has received no claims from people saying that their relatives are missing.

Three people will be prosecuted for the negligence which caused the death of the ten Ramayana Department Store employees. (21/sur)