Food stalls near Al-Azhar Grand Mosque to be relocated

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta Mayor Pardjoko promised yesterday to relocate the growing number of sidewalk food stalls near Al- Azhar Grand Mosque in Kebayoran Baru because they were causing traffic congestion.

Pardjoko said he had received complaints about the stalls from the Al-Azhar Islamic Boarding School Foundation.

"The foundation has asked the mayoralty to take action against the stall owners because they were causing traffic jams and had caused etiquette and morals in the area to decline.

"I will ask the stall owners to move to other less crowded areas far from places of worship," he said.

However, Pardjoko did not elaborate on where the stalls would be moved to and when the relocation would take place.

"I hope the stall owners will move to other places in the near future," he said.

According to the mayor, around 200 food stalls have opened near the mosque compound and its surrounding area.

The Al-Azhar Islamic Boarding School Foundation protested to the South Jakarta Mayoralty last week that the existence of 32 stalls near the mosque was causing daily traffic jams in the area.

Some of the stall attendants had conducted themselves in a manner not in accordance with religious values, the letter sent to the mayoralty said.

Al-Azhar Mosque, located on Jl. Sisingamangaraja, is one of the most famous mosques in the city after Istiqlal Mosque in Central Jakarta.

The surrounding area has become one of a number of locations where new food stalls, some of which are owned by celebrities, have sprung up.

Similar stalls can also be found on Jl. Raden Patah and Jl. Tirtayasa in Kebayoran Baru and along Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said also in South Jakarta. Many local residents are against the existence of the stalls, which are popularly called cafes by their owners.

Those who object to the stalls in the area claimed they had seen males and females embracing and said that some girls wore short skirts.

According to the Al-Azhar Moslem Martial Arts' headquarters, the stall attendants do not show acceptable standards of etiquette, politeness and morals.

The organization claims to have found empty liquor bottles and complains that people have urinated inside the mosque complex.

"We are concerned that such occurrences will make the mosque less pure as a place for worship," the letter, which was signed by the headquarter's secretary Chaidir, said. (ind)