City not sold on street vendors site

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Agency admitted its failure to accommodate around 147,000 registered street vendors, and those unregistered, laying the blame on the cash-strapped budget and limited space.

Agency head Samsul Hilaltaha revealed to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday the problems that the agency had faced.

"The taxable value of the property (NJOP) rises every year so that we can't afford the land. Last year, we had to return the allotted funds for land procurement because we didn't find land of a reasonable price," he said, declining to name the amount.

The number of street vendors has been on the rise, particularly since the economic crisis hit the country, resulting in increasing unemployment figures. The situation has been worsened by the high influx of people to the capital to find jobs.

"Most migrants arriving in the city lack skills. That's why the informal sector -- including becoming a street vendors -- is the most realistic alternative for them," Samsul said.

The administration recorded in 2002 that there were over 147,000 registered street vendors.

"The actual figure, of course, is higher than our data. Many street vendors are unregistered, including street hawkers," Samsul said.

Governor Sutiyoso told the City Council earlier on Tuesday that his administration had set up 22 locations across the capital for street vendors. The locations are situated in Bintaro subdistrict in South Jakarta and in Makasar district and Cililitan subdistricts in East Jakarta.

"We still lack locations for street vendors," he said.

The 22 locations can only accommodate 6,609 vendors. They will set up a cooperative unit in each location and organize and manage the locations by themselves.

Besides the official locations, the administration also tolerates the presence of street vendors at 320 locations in five municipalities in the capital. A total of 14,243 street vendors can be accommodated in the locations.

According to Samsul, some locations are situated in strategic areas, including a line of semi-permanent kiosks along Jl. Surabaya in Menteng, Central Jakarta. The location, which street vendors are not prohibited from occupying, is close to the official residences of the President and vice president.

"Due to our budget constraint and limited space to accommodate street vendors, we allow them to operate there. But the locations are subject to annual evaluation," he said.

Once the administration managed to find locations that were more suitable than the existing ones, the vendors would be evicted, he explained.

"Every year, the governor issues a gubernatorial decree to renew the regulation on the use of the locations," said Samsul.

Street vendors are among the administration's eviction targets. Many of them occupy sections of the street in prime locations, such as around Tanah Abang and Senen markets in Central Jakarta. The vendors claimed they paid public order officers for "permits" to conduct business there.