City asked to relocate street vendors

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council asked the city administration on Tuesday to stop its sweeping operations on street vendors and intensify the relocation of their businesses instead.

Chairman of Commission B for economic affairs Syarif Zulkarnaen Ginting said the sweeping operations often proved ineffective.

"The city officials and the street vendors are playing 'hide- and-seek'. Most street vendors arrested by the officials have returned to the sidewalks of shopping areas and continue to disrupt traffic," Syarif said.

"Many street vendors have complained that they were not notified of the sweeping operations before they were executed. Their belongings are often damaged or lost during the operations," he added.

He said the relocation program could at least guarantee the security of the street vendors' businesses. If they are relocated to places that are approved by the city administration, they can avoid having to pay unofficial fees to the authorities. he added.

"We have approved the city administration's plan to relocate the vendors to five locations in the capital," Syarif said.

The locations include a 3,000-square-meter plot at Pasar Gaplok, in Kramat, Central Jakarta; a 5,000 square-meter area along Jl. Lorong 103 and 104 in North Jakarta; a 10,000 square- meter area on Jl. Kamal Raya in Rawa Buaya area, West Jakarta; a 10,000-square-meter plot at Pasar Kebayoran Lama in South Jakarta; and another 3,000-square-meter area along Jl. Raya Bogor, in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Street Vendors (Hipki) Bambang Herry said the association had named several sites as prospective areas for the relocation program, such as the Jend. Urip Sumoharjo Field in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, and the Kebon Melati area in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Syarif, however, reminded the city officials to provide strategic locations for the vendors.

"We often find that the new locations are abandoned by the vendors due to a lack of customers," he said.

He cited the 10,000-square-meter paddy field near Jl. Kamal Raya in Rawa Buaya area, West Jakarta, which is near an already established business location.

"However, the businesses in this area are guarded by local thugs who might extort the street vendors. That should be anticipated," he said. (07)