Councilors want postponement of stall demolition
Councilors want postponement of stall demolition
JAKARTA (JP): City councilors have asked the West Jakarta
mayoralty administration to postpone the demolition of food
stalls on Jl. Kebon Jeruk XVIII until the end of this week,
pending the construction of a new location to accommodate
the stalls' operators.
"We agree to the mayoralty's plan to move the stalls. I
believe this must occur because of changes in city spatial
planning. The question now is where should they be moved," said
city councilor Hotman Tambunan, who presided over a meeting with
vendors from West Jakarta yesterday.
Fifteen vendors from West Jakarta, who claimed to represent 23
vendors operating along Jl. Kebon Jeruk XVIII, met city
councilors of commission B on the economy to protest against the
mayoralty administration closing their business site.
Wis Mulyadi, a spokesman for the vendors, said that early last
month they were given notice by the mayor's office that their
operation licenses would terminate one month later.
Mulyadi added that the licenses, code JB-067 which legalized
their operations, were given to them last year.
"To our dismay, one month later, we received a demolition
order," Mulyadi said, "No reason was given for either the notice
or the order. But we suspect we are being ousted because we are
situated along the entrance way to a newly opened hotel, the
Emerald."
According to Mulyadi, prior to presenting this case to the
City Council, the vendors had met with Ibrahim Usja, a mayoralty
official in charge of economic affairs and had asked him for
leniency, but Ibrahim refused their plea.
Mulyadi said they were not illegal food stall operators
because they had operation licenses and that some of them had
been operating there for seven years.
The government cannot simply get rid of them, Mulyadi said,
demanding that they at least be allowed to operate there in a
"collapsible" manner -- in which they can take down their stalls
each night -- or be given a new location in a nearby area. (arf)