Dealing with sidewalk vendors

Dealing with sidewalk vendors

From Warta Kota

Recently a raid was carried out to ensure that sidewalk vendors would no longer use part of the highway and cause traffic jams.

Unfortunately, in general, these vendors refuse to move to the places that the city administration has allocated. They argue that in their old locations they already have regular customers.

In such a situation, city officials usually resort to coercion, sometimes accompanied by violence. Some places, in Glodok for example, are cordoned off by a police line.

The question now is whether or not these sidewalk vendors will return to their old trading locations. Or, will they play hide- and-seek with the city administration?

In these circumstances, the city and also municipality administrations in Jakarta should consistently pursue a policy prohibiting sidewalk vendors from trading just where they please. They should not wait until the number of sidewalk vendors at a particular location has become a nuisance before taking action. Doesn't the city administration have its own, unambiguous spatial layout plan?

MULYADI WALUYO, Jakarta