Ciputat market area sinks into chronic disorder
Ciputat market area sinks into chronic disorder
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Chaotic, dirty, and depressing were the exact words used by
Syarief, 47, a resident of Kedaung Housing Complex to describe
the disorganized situation in Ciputat market, Tangerang, Banten
province.
Mountainous piles of garbage along its roadsides,
undisciplined drivers of public transportation and ojek
(motorcycle taxi), as well as street vendors, had contributed to
the daily chaos and traffic congestion around the market.
As the Ciputat market is located on a strategic intersection
and surrounded by at least 15 housing complexes, tens of
thousands of people have to pass by it every day, worsening the
traffic congestion on adjacent roads.
"I've been living in Kedaung near Ciputat for the last 20
years. Every day I have to pass the market on the way to my
office in TVRI, Senayan. There's a traffic jam during rush hours
every day," Syarief, 47, who lives in Kedaung, one of the housing
complexes in the area, told The Jakarta Post recently.
The disorder surrounding the market has been a problem since
1982. In 1997, the government tried to solve the problem by
building a new market building to accommodate the vendors and
widen its adjacent roads. But it failed and the disorderly
situation has persisted to this day.
Several times, including the one about two weeks ago, the
local administration tried to put it in order but then in a
matter of days it returned into a disorder condition again.
Three roads surrounding the market, Jl. Dewi Sartika, Jl. Aria
Putra and Jl. H. Usman, are mostly occupied by street vendors
selling miscellaneous merchandise, ranging from fruit and
vegetables to stationery and bicycle spare parts.
As a result, the three-lane Jl. Dewi Sartika has now been
reduced to just one lane, far too narrow to accommodate public
transportation and other vehicles.
Meanwhile the two-lane Jl. Aria Putra and Jl. H. Usman have
both been narrowed into a single lane, just wide enough for a car
to pass through.
Not only motorists, but pedestrians as well have experienced
difficulties when trying to use the roads adjacent to the market.
Several street vendors told the Post that the police, along
with local officials and hoodlums, had given them permission to
occupy the roadsides around the market.
They said they had to sell their merchandise on the roadsides
as it was the only way to attract customers.
A vendor named Udin, 37, said that he used to rent a stall
deep inside the market, but it was not strategic or profitable.
"Very few buyers came to my place," he said. "We couldn't afford
such a situation for long."
He and other sellers then decided to leave their stalls and
move to the roadside.
Udin said that traders had paid the police, subdistrict
officials and local hoodlums to allow them to operate there.
"Every day I have to pay Rp 1,000 to both the police and the
Ciputat district administration and Rp 500 to the hoodlums. I did
not receive any receipt from them as I realized that it was
illegal," said Udin, 37, a fruit seller who had been operating on
the street for three years.
Kosasih, 53, the deputy chairman of the market's security
guards, admitted the illegal levies were imposed, saying that
they were an essential supplement to their small monthly
salaries.
"We usually take money from them, but we do not force them. We
leave the amount up to them. Our monthly income only comes from
legal levies imposed on all owners of the market's kiosks. The
levies range from Rp 500 to Rp 4000 each, depending on their size
and location," he said.
Kosasih's monthly salary is Rp 410,000 (US$41), while low-
ranking field officers receive just Rp 285,000. They also have to
pay for their own uniforms and equipment, which cost about Rp
400,000.
Kosasih, who has seven children, added that the local
administration had never paid any attention to them or made any
effort to improve their welfare. "How can we support our
families?" he asked.