Hoodlums blamed for violent clash in Tanah Abang

Hoodlums blamed for violent clash in Tanah Abang

JAKARTA (JP): Officials blamed hoodlums for the violent clash
between vendors and public order officials yesterday at the Tanah
Abang market, while vendors expressed anger at public order
officials.

Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi and city public order
official Toha Reno said the clash, which culminated in a district
office being burned down by around 3,000 people, was probably
incited by hoodlums.

Kahfi said the parties behind the riots would be investigated.

Toha blamed hoodlums, as vendors were usually "obedient".

He said public order officials had just been "doing their job"
by preventing vendors from taking up too much space reserved for
pedestrians and traffic.

"Unfortunately some vendors think they are allowed to operate
anywhere because they have paid fees to certain groups," Toha
said. He declined to elaborate.

Two gangs were engaged in a battle over territory in the same
area on Jan. 9. The hoodlums lived on money collected from
hundreds of roadside vendors.

A Tanah Abang vendor insisted they had not been influenced by
any party. He said they had been angry at officials who had hit a
vendor and confiscated their wares.

"Our action has nothing to do with hoodlums," Ronald, a
garment vendor, said.

"We already pay those public order officials Rp 500 to Rp
1,500 every day," he said.

Vendors were charged between Rp 200,000 and Rp 300,000 to rent
space during Ramadhan.

Vendors said the clash at the market's Block F area erupted
after public order officials hit a vendor in a routine operation.

City Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso said yesterday the
roadside vendors had been enraged by rumors a vendor had been
killed during a raid some days before.

Sutiyoso denied the rumors.

Mayor Abdul Kahfi said he had not received reports of the
accident. "But if officials were over reacting, they will be
punished," Kahfi said.

The city's public order office reported the clash started
after officials confiscated wares from vendors along the
sidewalk. Officials had seized a vendor, identified as Ujang.

Other vendors who witnessed the incident were enraged and
tried to attack officials. They failed but damaged seven public
order office cars and set one of them alight before proceeding to
the district head's office.

Tanah Abang is one of a few market areas where the city has
provided extra space for sidewalk vendors during Ramadhan.

This is an annual policy but the spaces are not free.

Councilor Hasan Dasy said the clash might have happened
because vendors felt they had "not been treated properly by
officials".

Earlier, after a visit to a South Jakarta market, councilors
had rebuked city market authority PD Pasar Jaya for turning a
blind eye to the illegal levies vendors had to pay besides rent.
They said it was an annual practice Pasar Jaya should have
anticipated.

Despite levies and expensive rent, hundreds of vendors had
occupied space in Tanah Abang weeks before the market company
announced space prices. (ste/jun)