Governor Sutiyoso urged to pay serious attention to vendors

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of councillors urged Governor Sutiyoso on Tuesday to pay serious attention to the fate of hundreds of thousands of street vendors operating in the city who have for years been the target of extortion by officials and hoodlums.

Chairman of City Council Commission B for Economic affairs Syarif Zulkarnaen said Sutiyoso had failed to deal with the street vendor issue as he only offered a partial solution, which often made them suffer.

"The attempts to resolve the street vendor problem has so far been dominated by eviction. We demand the governor seek a more comprehensive solution," he said.

Such a solution of the street vendor problem should include an allocation of suitable sites by the city administration to accommodate evicted street vendors, he said.

Syarif was talking to reporters after meeting with representatives of some 25 street vendors from the Indonesian Street Vendors Forum (KPKLI).

The vendors reported the demolition of their kiosks on Jl. Hasanuddin Dalam, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Sept. 23.

KPKLI's chairwoman Nurmilah Harahap said the demolition, led by Melawai subdistrict and Kebayoran Baru district officials, also involved a number of thugs. She added that the street vendors had been operating in the area for 15 years.

Those working in the informal sector, including street vendors, said Syarif, had played an important role, especially since the economic crisis.

Data from the Jakarta Social Institute (ISJ) shows there are some 500,000 street vendors in the city. It estimated that illegal levies imposed by security officers and other officials amounted to Rp 5 billion per day.

Haim Mahadin, another Commission B member, stressed that the street vendor problem and other urban poverty issues, which had so far been ignored by Sutiyoso, should become his priority for the next five years.

"Sutiyoso should not delay in resolving the various problems faced by the urban poor. Any eviction of street vendors and people living in slum areas should be followed up by the allocation of alternative sites for them," he added.

Another group of street vendors who operate at the National Monument (Monas) park also paid a visit to the City Council building on Tuesday to report extortion practiced by city administration officials.

They also hoped that they would still be allowed to operate at the park after the current project to fence in the park was completed.