Groups differ on street vendors

JAKARTA: The conflict between the City Forum (Forkot) and the Betawi Youth Communications Forum (Forkabi) over the presence of street vendors along Jl. Salemba and Jl. Diponegoro worsened on Tuesday.

Forkot, which members mostly students, replaced the banner that prohibiting the presence of the street vendors with one stating that the vendors and the students rejected eviction.

"No societal groups has the authority to prohibit the presence of street vendors," Kristian, a law student at the University of Indonesia, was quoted as saying by Tempointeraktif.com.

"The government may evict them, but should also relocate them," he added.

A Forkabi member, Rusli, argued that his group only wanted to make a more comfortable area for pedestrians.

As members of the two groups were now facing off in the area, Brig. Djoko Ismoyono from the Central Jakarta Police, whose station is located in the area, said that officers had been deployed to avoid clashes between the groups. -- JP