Business still brisk despite empty kiosks

Business still brisk despite empty kiosks

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of kiosks remain vacant in Tanah Abang
market, Central Jakarta, while over a thousand street vendors
operate in the area, blocking part of the road and causing
chronic traffic jams.

The vacant spaces are among more than 7,000 kiosks operating
in six buildings at Tanah Abang market operated by the city-owned
market administrator PD Pasar Jaya.

PD Pasar Jaya's business and development division head for
Tanah Abang, Sugiyanto, said on Monday that there were over 4,500
vendors renting kiosks in the buildings. Many of them occupy more
than one kiosk, but hundreds of kiosks are still available.

Sugiyanto said that tenants have the right to use their kiosks
for 20 years and pay the rent in installments. They usually pay
as much as Rp 100,000 a month each, which includes the fee for
security, electricity and sanitation.

The vacant kiosks are situated on the third and fourth floors
of the main Tanah Abang market building, situated on Jl. Kebon
Jati.

The six building are located in a 39,000-square meter area.

The daily turnover in the main building alone reaches more
than Rp 20 billion (US$2 million), Sugiyanto said.

He said that the turnover has continued to increase along with
the increase of vendors.

Last year, the annual turnover of businesses in the six
buildings, where 4,200 vendors ran their businesses, reportedly
reached as much as Rp 90 trillion.

Meanwhile, Syamsidar, a garment vendor, told The Jakarta Post
that the 20-year lease for her 16-square meter kiosk on the
ground floor is Rp 10 million, which she pays in installments.

She said that her kiosk's turnover averaged around Rp 25
million a day. Most of her customers are garment vendors from
around the country, particularly Kalimantan and Sumatra, and from
neighboring countries like Malaysia.

Tanah Abang market is well known as a textile and garment
center. The presence of the biggest textile market in the country
is also widely known abroad, particularly in Malaysia, Brunei
Darussalam, the Philippines and African countries.

"Business is good so far," Syamsidar remarked.

She said that the facilities in the market are relatively
good. There are banks and cargo courier companies to support her
business.

However, she admitted that the market is also crowded and
disorganized, "especially because of the presence of the street
vendors".

Meanwhile, Sugiyono said that, "PD Pasar Jaya is not
responsible for the street vendors."

The number of street vendors in Tanah Abang market is
reportedly above 1,200. They have erected temporary kiosks by the
roadside, resulting in traffic jams in the area.

Over recent years the local administration has launched
numerous campaigns against illegal street vendors and the gangs
of hoodlums which rule the areas, but no great impact has been
made.

A street vendor selling clothes, Tinus, told the Post that he
chose to run his business on the roadside where he could get more
customers.

"It's better to run the business here I think, because the
customers don't like to walk up to the third or fourth level of
the market building," he remarked.

Tinus said that his sales could reach up to Rp 300,000 a day
if he was lucky. He only has to pay hoodlums a fee of up to Rp
7,500 a day for security.

It is ironic that Tanah Abang market, which is disorganized,
crowded and full of hoodlums, remains one of the most important
and busiest business centers in the capital, or even the country.

For that reason, the city administration plans to renovate and
reorganize the market, which has existed in various forms for
hundreds of years.

The city administration will reportedly spend as much as Rp 1
trillion in renovating the market. They plan on building a bridge
that links each building, a bus station, hotel and an amusement
center. The renovations are expected to be completed in the next
two years. (04)