Groups differ on street vendors

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