Glodok market's reconstruction to cost $6.94m, says official

JAKARTA (JP): City-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya has pledged to rebuild Glodok market in Chinatown, West Jakarta, at a cost of Rp 50 billion (US$6.94 million), an official says.

The market was destroyed in the May 1998 riots.

Deputy Governor for Economic and Financial Affairs Fauzie Alvi Yasin told a meeting with city councilors on Thursday that the market in busy downtown Kota should be rebuilt in an effort to put to rest the grim nightmare of social discord.

Fauzie, however, did not disclose the kick-off date of the project nor the source of funding for the market reconstruction.

The Glodok market project is in the bidding process, he said without giving further explanation.

He said the decision to rebuild Glodok market was based on an order by former president B.J. Habibie, who inspected the destroyed building two weeks after the May 13 to May 15, 1998 riots that were accompanied by mass looting and arson.

"The then president Habibie had decided to rebuild the damaged market to show that Indonesians aren't hostile to the Chinese community," Fauzie said.

He was responding to questions raised by some councilors on the reason for the administration to spend such a big amount of money to rebuild a single market while there were still some 150 other city-owned markets, home to small-scale traders, needing financial support.

Glodok market is one of six city-owned permanent markets developed and managed by Pasar Jaya that were either destroyed or damaged by mobs during the 1998 unrest.

To date, four trading places have been renovated by Jakarta authorities. They are Palmerah market and Cempaka Putih market in Central Jakarta and Cipete and Pasar Minggu markets in South Jakarta.

"The city administration decided to write off Perniagaan market (in West Jakarta) because its operation was no longer feasible," said Fauzie.

PD Pasar Jaya, which oversees the operation of 152 city-owned markets in the capital, claims to have suffered a total loss of Rp 56 billion in the 1998 riots.

The Kota area was one of the hot spots during the May 1998 turmoil because it is a popular business and residential site for many Chinese-Indonesians.

The reconstruction cost of the Glodok project was initially set at Rp 27 billion on the assumption that parts of the structure that were still standing could be used in the project.

However, it was later found that the remaining parts of the structure were too damaged to be used, thus raising the cost.

According to Fauzie, the reopening of Glodok market will give both political and economic benefits to the city administration.

"The administration will be able to regain traders' trust once the market is rebuilt. They will resume business here," he said.

On the other hand, the city administration needs to show to the world that the local government is serious in rebuilding the market to lure more foreign tourists, he added.

Fauzie also agreed to the councilors' suggestion to focus projects on local small-scale traders.

"PD Pasar Jaya will also continue to develop and help small traders as it's one of company's duties," he explained.

Pasar Jaya has become a target of criticism over the years because of its failure to meet the projected limited revenue from its more than 150 markets.

Fauzie defended the failure, saying the markets could only yield a small amount of revenue because rental rates were much lower compared to those in other places. Rent at the company's markets is also subsidized by the city administration.

"We can't impose full rates because it would further burden traders as well as weaken their competitive spirit," he said. (05)