Business owners protest govt ruling

Business owners protest govt ruling

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of established business owners who used
to provide goods and services to Jakarta's city administration
urged the office on Wednesday to ignore a presidential decree
requiring them to register with the Jakarta chapter of the
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

In a rally staged at the city hall in the afternoon, the
protesters renounced the Presidential Decree No. 18/2000, saying
such a regulation would lead to trouble. They said there had been
widespread reports that the chamber used to extort businessmen
while applying for membership.

"Now that it's time for regional autonomy, there is no need to
obey the presidential decree. How can we deal with Kadin, which
has never paid attention to small-scale businesses like ours,"
Freddy Siahaan, the coordinator of the group, told several of the
city officials.

He claimed that Kadin requires the businessmen to pay
membership fees for the last five years plus a Rp 2 million
certificate fee. The certificate fee depends on the scale of the
business.

"It's much cheaper to get the certificate from the city
administration. We demand the governor to allow the city
administration to regain the right to process the certification,
standardize tender requirements and validate the old
certificates," Freddy said. (bby)