Eviction of VCD street vendors in Glodok a sham

Eviction of VCD street vendors in Glodok a sham

Leo Wahyudi S and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Last week's eviction of street traders from in front of the Harco
shopping center in Glodok has turned out to be another waste of
time and energy as most of them have already reoccupied their
sidewalk spots to sell electronics goods and pornographic VCDs
openly despite the presence of security officers in the area.

And so, it appears to be business as usual once again. During
a visit by the Post on Thursday, many shoppers were to be seen
buying the traders' merchandise, mostly cheap electronics goods
like small radios and tape recorders, remote controls, TV
antennas, and, of course, illegal VCDs.

Pirated VCDs, including pornographic ones with racy covers,
were everywhere to be seen on the stands erected by the traders
along the street, just under the Harco shopping bridge.

"Want to buy a porno VCD?" a vendor said quietly as The
Jakarta Post approached.

The situation was relaxed. A policeman passing in front of the
vendor cast an indifferent glance at the hard-core VCDs without
saying a word.

"Actually, I'm a bit worried. But what else can we do? What's
important is that if they evict us again, I'm going to run so
that they can't arrest me," said Udin, who has been selling
illegal VCDs in Glodok for five years.

Following the late-evening, unheralded move against the
vendors on Dec. 9, the municipality's public order office offered
to move the vendors to the administration-managed Pasar Pagi
market on Jl. Perniagaan.

But the vendors refused to be relocated, saying they were
afraid that buyers would not come to the new location.

They also said that they sold illegal VCDs because of high
demand from the public.

The administration and police have repeatedly conducted raids
on the vendors and evicted them, but to no avail as the producers
remain untouched.

The vendors are considered to be the major cause of congestion
along Jl. Hayam Wuruk as they not only occupy the sidewalks but
also part of the street.

Moreover, most of the vendors have violated an agreement they
made with the municipality in 2000 that forbids them from selling
pirated cassettes and video compact discs (VCDs), as well as
pornographic VCDs.

West Jakarta Mayor Sarimun Hadisaputra said that he was trying
to seek a win-win solution by considering allowing them to trade
at Harco during the evenings so as to avoid the traffic
congestion that the vendors' caused during office hours. He said
a similar solution had been successfully tried with the street
vendors in front of the Citraland mall.

Meanwhile, urban poor activists and experts urged the West
Jakarta municipality on Wednesday to take a participatory
approach involving the public in its efforts at resolving the
problem.

Wardah Hafidz from the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) suggested
"a genuine dialog" between the mayor and the street vendors in a
bid to find a win-win solution.

"There is still tension between the municipality and the
vendors, so I think the officials should not offer them a set
solution but rather involve them in resolving the issue," she
told The Jakarta Post.

She said the dialog should produce a written agreement under
which the vendors would pledge to limit their numbers and
maintain public order. Such an agreement, Wardah suggested,
should also state sanctions for both public order officers and
vendors who violated the agreement.

"The public order officers should also be brought under
control so that they will not take bribes or levy protection
money from the vendors."

Urban planning expert Marco Kusumawijaya referred to the
administration's apparent ignorance of the fact that the main
reason for the presence of the street vendors was its insensitive
urban policies.

"They think the street vendors are a problem that will
diminish eventually. The fact is, street vendors are here to stay
as the economic crisis has increased the number of unemployed,
especially in the capital.

"If only the administration acknowledged their presence, we
could develop a more inclusive approach to city planning," he
told the Post.

Another expert, Irwanto, from the Atma Jaya Catholic
University, claimed that the administration's urban policies were
based solely on commercial considerations, with relocated street
vendors having to pay for trading space regardless of their
financial capabilities.

"If the administration wants to relocate the vendors, then
they should be subsidized. Moreover, the location should be
strategic and give the vendors the same economic benefits they
had at their previous trading spots," he told the Post.