Glodok Plaza to reopen in May

JAKARTA (JP): The seven-storey Glodok Plaza mall, which was burned to the ground during the mid-May 1998 riots, will reopen this May, president of the city-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya Syahril Tanjung said on Thursday.

He said the construction of the electronics mall, which cost Rp 68 billion (US$7 million), is currently 87 percent complete.

"We hope the plaza can be up and running in May this year," he told visiting councillors of the City Council Commission D for development affairs.

He said the mall will have 1,368 shops which will initially be offered to the 1,300 traders who used to operate in the building before the unrest broke out in 1998.

The remaining 68 shops will be offered to new traders through a tender with a higher price than shops offered to the old traders, he said.

Syahril said the 1,368 shops, which are between 4 square meters and 6 square meters, will be sold for between Rp 7.5 million and Rp 15 million per square meter.

The mall which is located on busy Jl. Gajah Mada in West Jakarta will have parking lots on each storey. Meanwhile, the mall's basement will be used for vegetable and meat traders.

Syahril said the building will not provide space for street vendors who currently operate in front of the mall and along the street.

"It's not our business to deal with street vendors. You should ask the West Jakarta Mayor," he said.

West Jakarta Mayor Sarimun Hadisaputra admitted that the mayoralty's public order office could no longer control street vendors in the Glodok area.

"As long as supermarkets and malls exist, we are still able to cope with street vendors," he said.

At least 1,500 street vendors selling electronic goods and pirated VCDs are currently operating in Glodok area along Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk.

In May last year, hundreds of vendors ran amok, breaking windows of several shops along the two streets after police officers raided them for selling pirated VCDs.

The decision not to provide slots for street traders are against Governor's Decree No. 50/1999 which requires market operators in the city to provide 20 percent of their business sites for street vendors.

One of the vendors, Andi, who sells electronic items such as television antennae, admitted that he would not be able to buy a slot in the building.

"I will continue operating here, unless the mall can provide a free place for me and my friends," Andi, who claims to have been operating in front of the market for almost two years, told reporters. (jun)