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)