Govt pledges to help Pekalongan batik, sarong producers

Govt pledges to help Pekalongan batik, sarong producers

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The ministry of industry and trade pledged to help the ailing
batik (traditional Javanese shirt) and sarong producers in
Pekalongan, Central Java province, to seek new domestic markets
in an attempt to keep their businesses alive.

The move was part of efforts to market some one million batik
and sarong products piled up in Pekalongan after the Tanah Abang
market in Jakarta was destroyed by fire last month. Tanah Abang
was the main domestic market for batik and sarong from
Pekalongan.

Rifana Erni, director general of domestic trade affairs at the
ministry said on Monday that her office would facilitate some
meetings between producers from Pekalongan and traders from
several provinces in the country.

"We will help them to seek new local markets, such as Medan,
and other cities in Sumatra," Erni said.

She said that the first meeting was expected to take place in
Medan next month.

The leading newspaper here, Kompas daily reported on Monday
that the batik and sarong manufacturing industry, which employs
thousands of workers, was in limbo after the Oct. 12 Bali terror
attacks and the fire which destroyed the Tanah Abang market. The
popular resort island of Bali is also a huge market for the
Pekalongan sarongs because they are popular among foreign
tourists who enjoy purchasing ethnic knicknacks. Tourism in Bali
is significantly down since the terrorist attacks there.

But an official at the ministry said that the move to help the
Pekalongan batik and sarong producers was not in response to the
Kompas report, saying that Minister of Industry and Trade Rini M.
Soewandi had already visited the Pekalongan area immediately
after the Tanah Abang market was destroyed.

The official added that in addition to helping open market
access in Sumatra, the ministry would also help the Pekalongan
producers to market their products in Makassar, South Sulawesi
province.

The Tanah Abang market has also been the main gateway for the
export of the Pekalongan's batik and sarong products to the
Middle East, Africa and some Asian countries.

The fire destroyed more than 2,420 kiosks out of a total of
7,594 kiosks in the four-story market covering six blocks. Only
shops in block B and F were completely unaffected by the blaze.

Rini has sent a letter to the Jakarta administration and city-
owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya to quickly rebuild the
market.

The ministry would also host discussions with textile
associations and banks to seek solutions to the problems faced by
the Pekalongan producers.

Nadifianto, a sarong maker from Pekalongan said that there
were some 18 million sarongs piled up in the Central Java city.

"We are now facing a very difficult condition, we are unable
to move our products as there is no demand," Nadifianto told The
Post.

"We're not asking for much from the government, we only want
their help to find us new markets," he said, adding that action
must be immediately taken or many producers would go bankrupt.

Pekalongan has some 5,000 weaving machines, with the total
number of direct workers at 10,000.

Nadifianto welcomed the government's move to facilitate the
planned meeting with traders from Sumatra and other areas.