Councillors want action against illegal vendors
Councillors want action against illegal vendors
JAKARTA (JP): City councillors urged the administration on
Wednesday to take stern action against vendors operating
illegally on the streets of Jakarta, whom they accuse of causing
disorder and insecurity among residents.
Blaming newcomers for swelling the number of street vendors in
the capital, some councillors told The Jakarta Post that the
administration should send them back to their hometowns.
Binsar Tambunan, chairman of the City Council's Commission A
on governmental affairs, said failure to act would undermine
efforts to make Jakarta a clean and neat city.
It would also raise public concern over the administration's
ability to govern, Binsar said.
"We need firm leadership to take the city to a better
condition. Mayors who cannot deal with illegal vendors in their
areas should resign," he said.
"We are now consumed by disorder created by people from other
parts of the country, when we should focus our efforts on
fostering local vendors," he said.
The five mayoralties should conduct a campaign to clean their
areas of illegal vendors, and send them back to their hometowns,
he said.
The administration estimates that since the economic crisis
began in 1997, the number of street vendors in Jakarta has
swollen by 270,000 people, mostly from out of town, adding to the
120,000 vendors already in the capital.
The administration has postponed any action against non-
Jakartan street vendors, fearing that it could trigger strong
reactions from the vendors.
City Council deputy chairman Djafar Badjeber said street
vendors had become a problem because the administration failed to
distinguish between residents and newcomers.
"By taking stern action, the administration could discourage
more people from coming to Jakarta. Many of them came with the
belief that they could start a business in Jakarta with only Rp
200,000 in their pocket," he said.
Most simply ended up crowding the streets with makeshift
kiosks, he added.
Vice chairman for Commission D on development Saud Rahman
believes that the vendors collude with hoodlums and government
apparatus to operate on the streets.
"Vendors feel that they can set up kiosks because they are
paying fees to hoodlums and officials," he said.
He agreed with Binsar's proposal to send the vendors home. "If
not, many more people will come to the city in the hope of a
better life," he said.
The councillors underlined the role of the Public Order
Agency, supported by the police, in restoring order and returning
public facilities to their original functions.
Many market developers have gotten around the ruling by paying
a fee to the administration.
The Regional Economic Bureau (Binekda) said it had collected
Rp 15 billion from market developers since 1993. Some Rp 9
billion of this had been used to set up new locations for street
vendors.(06)