Governor Sutiyoso urged to pay serious attention to vendors

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.