Glodok computer vendors open new business

JAKARTA (JP): At least 200 computer vendors whose shops in Glodok, West Jakarta, were looted and burned during the mid-May riots are back in business, albeit with scant capital and stocks.

For them, an immediate resurrection is more important to start recycling their cash flows than taking a wait-and-see attitude.

"We can't just sit down and mourn our bad luck forever. We need money now. Yes, we could survive with our savings but they will be soon gone," said a female shop owner, who refused to be named.

"Besides, we believe that the political situation, and the economic too, will recover sooner or later," she added.

One hundred vendors are currently busy setting up their new sites at Mangga Dua Mall and another 40 at the Dusit Mangga Dua Hotel shopping arcade, both on Jl. Mangga Dua Raya, and the remaining at the Gajah Mada Plaza, Jl. Gajah Mada; all are in West Jakarta.

Unfortunately, only half of the vendors at the first two sites had started operations by yesterday.

Many even seemed a bit hesitant to talk to journalists, who attended yesterday's soft opening of the Orion Mangga Dua computer center at Dusit's shopping arcade.

Only a few were willing to talk and they asked for anonymity.

The new site is specially designed to accommodate mostly computer vendors, who used to run their businesses at Orion Plaza and 21 Plaza in Glodok before they were burned.

The female trader said she financed her comeback in the computer business by using her own savings and with some help from relatives.

"I did not try to get a loan from a bank. You know, it'll be very hard to get a loan at this time," she said.

She said it cost at least Rp 200 million just to get a new site and a few items to put on display.

"Can you imagine how hard it is for a not-so-financially strong vendor like me to cope with the demand of getting back on track? Because I'm still weighed down by my Rp 1 billion loss from the recent riot which my insurance company has refused to cover." she said.

Enthusiast

Another vendor, however, decided to buried the past and be enthusiastic about his comeback.

He said the prospects of the business was still good because more and more people need computers at this time.

"I hope the customers will understand about the current high prices of computers and their accessories.

"Prices have jumped by two or three times since the monetary crisis due to the fluctuation of our currency rate," he said.

The price of a very modest computer set is now Rp 6 million, three times more expensive than the price in December.

A ribbon for a black-and-white printer is now offered at Rp 300,000, from between Rp 30,000 and Rp 50,000 before the monetary crisis that hit the country in July last year.

Sony Kusumo, spokesman for the group of vendors who moved into Orion Mangga Dua and Mangga Dua Mall, strongly believed that the demand of computers would remain relatively good amid the economic turmoil in the years to come.

"We signed up for a five-year contract here," he said.

Good news for vendors is that management of the building gave them a lower rate for rental fees, which was Rp 50,000 per square meter instead of its official tariff of US$50 per square meter, Sony said.

He said that many of the city's computer vendors were not expect good business this year because they had projected their total sales would likely drop by 80 percent due to a sharp decline in customer buying power.

Another senior vendor, who also refused to be named, said that what the traders -- most of whom are Chinese-Indonesians -- needed most for the continuation of their businesses was a guarantee that there would be no further riots.

"We have decided not to flee the country and have restarted our businesses, just like the government asked us to.

"Maybe it's impossible to ask for a guarantee for our security but at least the authorities should promise that they will never let the same thing happen again," he said.

A member of management for Orion Mangga Dua and Mangga Dua Plaza, Rano Jap, said his office "could not give a 100 percent guarantee that the buildings would not be affected by other riots".

"But as you can see for yourself, we saved the buildings from being looted or burned by mobs during the May riots. So what we can offer here is a promise that we'll always do our best to save the building," he said. (cst)