Fish traders complain of illegal levies

JAKARTA (JP): Some 200 traders at the Muara Baru fish market in North Jakarta staged a protest at City Hall on Wednesday, demanding the revocation of a gubernatorial decree on fees for fish traders and calling for an end to the rampant charging of illegal levies in the area.

Representatives of the traders were received separately by the city council's Commission B on economic affairs and Commission C on financial affairs.

"Gubernatorial Decree No. 192/2000 on Fees in the Fisheries Sector, which grants a cooperative under the State Ministry for Cooperatives the authority to charge fees from the traders, must be revoked.

"They (officials from the cooperative) take Rp 3,000 (37 US cents) from us daily based upon three kinds of fees, namely sanitary, security and rental fees," Marsono, one of the traders, told the councillors.

Another representative, Slamet, said that the traders questioned the necessity of imposing a two-percent surcharge on fish coming in from other regions.

"They (fish traders from other regions) claim that they already have to pay a five-percent charge in their respective areas before selling the fish in Jakarta," Slamet said.

Marsono stated that the traders' obligation to pay the fees was not matched by the provision of adequate security by the market's security guards.

"Despite paying a fee for security, the security officers are incapable of protecting us from local hoodlums," he said.

He added that there were at least 10 groups of hoodlums operating in the area with each group consisting of approximately 50 members.

Slamet said that the traders had written to Jakarta Police Headquarters and to the North Jakarta Police Precinct asking for better security and protection in the fish market through the upgrading of the existing Muara Baru police post to a police subprecinct.

"Muara Baru is a crime-ridden area. We believe that the existing police post is inadequate to ensure the proper handling of security problems," he said, while adding that the traders were always the victims. (lup)