Hand truck rental biz faces threat with Tanah Abang makeover

Hand truck rental biz faces threat with Tanah Abang makeover

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post

Amid rows of parked cars and tents a porter was seen approaching
a 50-year-old man standing beneath a shop-bridge at Tanah Abang
textile market in Central Jakarta.

The porter gave the man Rp 2,000 (22 U.S. cents) and received
a trolley in return. Then, he began the search for customers.

"This is my business. I rent trolleys to porters. I have been
doing this for 30 years," the man, who introduced himself as
Ruja, told The Jakarta Post recently.

Ruja started his working life in Tanah Abang as a porter
without a trolley. He had to hire one from the trolley owner. He
learned one lesson: Trolley owners did good business.

So, with his savings, Ruja bought five trolleys and started to
rent them to other porters.

"When I began this business, the rental fee was only Rp 200.
Tanah Abang was not as busy as today," he recalled.

As time passed, his business expanded.

Now, with 30 trolleys, Ruja can earn between Rp 100,000 and Rp
150,000 per day during his working hours from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
seven days a week.

He usually hops on the commuter train at the station nearest
his home in Rawa Buntu, Tangerang, at 6 a.m. to reach Tanah
Abang.

Ruja's two competitors, who are also his friends, operate with
12 and 15 trolleys each.

From his business, Ruja manages to keep his family clothed and
fed and send his four children to school. His eldest son has
already graduated from university.

Ruja said he wanted to send his third and fourth children to
university, but doubted that he could afford the tuition fees.

"The fees are very expensive now. I hope the government can
lower the fees so that I can send my two children to
universities," he said.

As the Idul Fitri holiday approaches -- most likely on Nov. 14
-- business at the biggest textile market in Southeast Asia is
booming.

"It's a particularly busy time as more and more people shop at
Tanah Abang for gifts before returning to their hometowns," he
said.

But, after enjoying a thriving business for three decades,
things may be about to change for Ruja. The city administration
plans to convert Tanah Abang from an overcrowded, dirty and
sprawling market area, to a slick, new shopping and business
complex in the next five years.

The 12-hectare mega-project will stretch from Tanah Abang
textile market to Tanah Abang railway station. Currently, a
renovation project to transform Tanah Abang's Block A, which was
destroyed by fire on Feb. 19, 2003, into a luxury shopping mall,
is ongoing.

The Rp 400 million mall will have 16 floors above ground and
three below. The mall will face the railway station on Jl. Jati
Baru, which is to become a monorail station.

"I haven't thought about it (the plan). I believe porters will
continue to rent my trolleys. I will continue this job as long as
I can," he said, while giving another trolley to an incoming
porter.