Company asked to halt Klender market project
JAKARTA (JP): City councilors have called on city-owned market managing company PD Pasar Jaya to temporarily stop the development of the Klender market in East Jakarta, pending the council's granting of approval for the use of the site, which belongs to the city.
Mahmud Chaniago, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction in the council, said yesterday that the development of the partially-completed market project should be halted because council consent has not been granted for the development of the 3,100 square-meter plot of land, which is earmarked for a green belt.
"It would be better for the project to be halted now," said Mahmud, who is also a member of the council's Commission B, which oversees economic affairs, after a meeting between the commission's members and the company's board of directors.
According to commission chairman Nitra Arsyad, the meeting discovered that the project has already engulfed the 3,100 sq.- meter plot.
Nitra conceded that PD Pasar Jaya had received approval from the governor to use the land in Letter No.336/I/713, issued in 1994. However, the council had not given its approval for a change of status in relation to the land, he said.
"According to the existing regulations, any alteration to the city's property must be approved by the City Council," he said, adding that the city administration should process the license application afresh.
He said that the 3,100 sq.-meter plot of land was formerly a soccer field. At some point several fruit traders erected stalls there, he added.
The Klender market is currently being rebuilt after being gutted by fire last March. The project is expected to be completed in the middle of next year.
The fire in March was the second at the Klender market. After the first fire, which occurred in December 1993, traders were forced to build provisional stands nearby while awaiting the construction of a new market building by city administration.
Yesterday's meeting was held to discuss a protest filed by about 600 traders from the market regarding the high prices of new stalls. Also on the agenda was another protest, lodged by other traders in the area, over the proposed establishment of a store by a large-scale retail company in the building.
The traders complained that the stalls, which are being offered to traders for between Rp 1.9 million (US$863.63) and Rp 3.6 million each, are too expensive. A down payment of 25 percent of the total price is required.
"PD Pasar Jaya has promised to review the payment system to help the traders," Nitra said.
Regarding Matahari Department Store's plan to lease one floor of the market, Pasar Raya director Soedrajat Soeleman commented: "There is no regulation forbidding large-scale retail business companies to open stores there."
He added that the existence of a Matahari store might attract more visitors to the market.
The commission urged PD Pasar Jaya to persuade the traders to accept Matahari's plan in order to avoid problems in the future.
"It is important to explain this fact to the traders because if the company fails to do so the traders will be angry," Nitra said, adding that if PD Pasar Jaya could not convince about the desirability the department store the traders it would be better not to allow Matahari to open is there. (yns)