Fish traders complain of illegal levies

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)