Governor declares war on street vendors

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja vowed yesterday to continue the fight against street vendors operating illegally along strategic spots throughout the city.

The governor said that he has ordered the city's five mayors to keep an eye on vendors' operations because their presence is considered to disturb the public. Many vendors recklessly change the function of public facilities, including pavements, bus shelters and pedestrian bridges, to suit their operations.

"The city administration has established several locations to accommodate street vendors," Surjadi said at the opening of a new market for street vendors in Kramatjati, East Jakarta.

With the provision of these facilities, there should be no reason for the vendors to operate indiscriminately, he said.

He also said that the development of a new market for street vendors is aimed at improving the informal sector and small-scale businesses in the city.

He urged the street vendors, who had just moved into the new market, to maintain its sanitation and cleanliness.

The vendors are allowed to stay at the market for one year without paying fees on the condition that they maintain sanitation there, the governor said, adding that after one year they are obliged to pay a fee of Rp 600 each, per day.

Capacity

The new market has the capacity to accommodate about 461 street vendors, who previously did business along Jl. Nusa I, Kramatjati, East Jakarta.

Head of the City Small-scale Business Improvement Task Force, Nyoman Djendria, said that the Kramatjati vendor market is part of 361 projects built in the city, with a combined capacity of accommodating 12,939 street vendors.

Nyoman said that, according to data at his office, there are about 54,000 street vendors still operating illegally along city streets.

He also said that the provision of markets, for street vendors, is part of a program to improve the small-scale business sector in the city. The other steps are conducted by providing capital and training courses, he said. (yns)