Complaints of small traders

Complaints of small traders

From Republika

In the Kuningan district, a large retailer (Yogya Supermarket)
is operating now. Being a resident of the area and a small
retailer, I am concerned with the establishment of the
supermarket, which carries "conglomerating" overtones.

Kuningan, as one of the districts with the lowest per capita
income in West Java, is packed with small and medium traders who
still need guidance and protection from the local administration.
Moreover, I have read about a ruling, distributed by the
Retailers Association and Shop Management, that large retailers
are not permitted to operate in district capitals.

Aside from its negative impact on small traders like us, the
regulation should be revised. Considering the economic condition
of the Kuningan district, even without the existence of the above
regulation, the government should have taken the right move to
reject the applications of large retailers who plan to operate in
this region. Or the administration should at least grant
protection to small traders by providing them with small capital
funds.

Rumors in Kuningan have it that the administration is busy
selling several strategic locations for the purpose of building
market centers for large-scale traders. We do not know if these
rumors are true or not, but we really hope that the authorities
would consider the fate of small traders, who are too weak to
compete with trading giants.

We are not asking the Kuningan authorities to make unrealistic
dreams come, but they should at least amend the present ruling or
review it. Do not pawn the lots as securities for the sake of
personal interests and certain persons, lest the portion of the
development cake -- already little for small people -- becomes
smaller in the end.

YUDI MAKSUD AK

Kuningan, West Java