Governor blames militant vendors for street disorder

Governor blames militant vendors for street disorder

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso blamed increased militancy among street vendors on Monday for the increasing disorderliness in the streets of the capital.

Sutiyoso said he detected a growing trend among vendors, particularly those who were economically hard-pressed, to break the law.

"They not only violate rules, but sometimes they even attack city officials," he told a plenary meeting of the City Council which is scrutinizing his performance over the past year.

The administration faced a dilemma in dealing with street vendors, he said.

"On one hand, we have to uphold the supremacy of the law, but on the other hand, we have to understand the difficulties people have in surviving the economic crisis," he said.

He promised that the administration would continue to try to restore order in the streets of Jakarta by using a humane approach towards illegal street vendors.

The administration estimated that some 270,000 people are hawking their wares in the streets of the capital, a sharp increase from about 120,000 before the economic crisis hit the country in 1997.

Most of these vendors are believed to have come from out of town, prompting calls by councillors for tougher action by the administration to send them back to their villages.

The administration has conducted a series of raids to put the areas in order. In several cases, these raids triggered violent responses from the vendors.

The Council earlier criticized Sutiyoso for his failure to restore peace and order in Jakarta in line with his own motto to make Jakarta a clean and beautiful capital city.

Various factions in the Council debating Sutiyoso's June 5 speech have also attacked the governor for his failure to eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism practices within the administration.

Responding to criticisms of the rampant gambling activities in Jakarta, Sutiyoso said the administration's role is limited to maintaining order and that it is the responsibility of the police to conduct raids and investigations. "The administration will continue to monitor places allegedly used for gambling," he said.

Sutiyoso promised to get rid of some 6,500 becaks (three- wheeled pedicabs) which have returned to Jakarta streets since 1998 when the governor decided to allow the becaks to operate in the capital streets to help out the poor.

The policy was reversed within weeks and the governor has since been attacked from all sides for this flip-flop.

However, Sutiyoso denied on Monday ever making a written or verbal policy to allow becaks to operate in the city.

The council will continue to deliberate on Sutiyoso's speech and is expected to give its final evaluation on July 24.

While the council's evaluation is simply an annual score card on the governor's performance, a discontented council has the capability to oust the governor, as shown by the recent experience in Aceh. The Aceh governor was removed by President Abdurrahman Wahid this month at the recommendation of the province's legislative council.

The City Council factions on Monday appeared divided on Sutiyoso's response to their views.

Ahmad Heryawan of the Justice Party said the answers were too general and lacked depth.

He cited as an example the answer on the efforts to eradicate corruption and other irregularities.

"If only Sutiyoso had elaborated on the problems in creating a clean administration, we could make a better judgment. We could even offer solutions," Ahmad said.

Siti Wasilah Sutrisno of the National Mandate Party said "the governor could have done much better by providing detailed answers. He also didn't answer our questions on public and social facilities," she said.

Tubagus Abbas Saleh Ma'mun of the National Awakening Party said he was quite satisfied with the governor's answers.

"We understand that Sutiyoso has to carry all the burden by himself although he didn't create these problems," he said.

"The economic crisis further added to his burden. He has to clean up all the mess," Tubagus said.

He nevertheless criticized the governor for not using the reform momentum to cleanse the administration from corruption and other irregularities.

"He should replace 75 percent of his officials," he said. (06/nvn)