Cipinang traders reject 'irrational' renovation

Cipinang traders reject 'irrational' renovation

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

About 100 vendors at the Cipinang rice market rejected on
Wednesday a costly renovation plan they regarded as exorbitant
and unreasonable, planned by the management of PT Food Station
Tjipinang Jaya.

"The renovation plan, which will cost about Rp 8 million
(US$888.89) per square meter, is very irrational," said
Fadjaruddin Tamar, head of the rice vendors' union in Cipinang
Market.

The Cipinang rice market, located in East Jakarta and
established in 1974, was at one time the largest rice market in
Jakarta that also served as a distribution center to many places
in the city.

According to President Director of Food Station Suhardi, the
management was considering the renovation because of the fragile
construction of the facilities, which were built 29 years ago
when the market first opened.

The electrical installation was also said to be in poor
condition, although refurbishment were made only last year.
According to Fadjaruddin, this included the replacement of
damaged electricity cables, while Suhardi said that last year's
refurbishment only focused on the maintenance of visible
electrical infrastructure.

An overall renovation is at present being planned, as advised
by an independent technical consultant.

Suhardi said that the renovation costs would also include
rental charges for the kiosks for the next 15 years. "The rental
charges paid by the vendors up to the present will no longer be
valid and should be renewed," he said.

Vendors said the current rice business was gloomy and they
could not afford such high renovation costs.

"On average, the size of a kiosk is 24 square meters. So the
renovation fee may run at about Rp 200 million per kiosk, and
some vendors own several kiosks," said Fadjaruddin.

Fadjaruddin and other vendors said they actually owned their
kiosks, so a renewal of rental charges was unnecessary. "I bought
my store in 1974 for Rp 6,048,000 at that time," he said.

As proof, he showed a copy of the ownership document signed by
the Food Station's head of project at that time, M.S. Ngabadi.

The current management, however, denied the validity of the
document. Suhardi said that since the market opened in 1974,
vendors had been paying regular fees for operation licenses,
which the vendors were obliged to renew every two years.

The management challenged the vendors to take the ownership
issue to court.

The vendors also complained about the poor service provided by
the market's management.

"Most of the electric bulbs in the market's parking lot are
broken, but the management has not replaced them. They just leave
the area unlit," said a vendor. "The waste water in the gutters
is horrible. It is dirty and the gutters are often clogged with
trash."

The vendors are required to pay a maintenance and development
fee of about Rp 200,000 (US$22.22) per month.

Suhardi said the fee will be used for sanitation management,
security guards and lighting. Manager Nasyun Bagiono even
admitted that the lighting at the market was Food Station's
responsibility.

The city administration owned 75 percent of shares in PT Food
Station Tjipinang Jaya, while the remaining 25 percent was
divided among several owners, some of whom were retired city
officials, said Muhayat, spokesman for the administration.

Suhardi, however, denied that former officials owned shares in
Food Station. "No, there are no retired officials of the Jakarta
regional administration among the shareholders," he said.