Hypermarkets everywhere

Hypermarkets everywhere

From Koran Tempo

A media report stated that Carrefour Hypermarket in Kuningan must be closed down and that a member of the House of Representatives has said Carrefour can operate in Indonesia only in 2020.

Something must have gone wrong in this case or perhaps there is a backstreet deal. What has the Commission on Supervision over Business Competition (KPPU) done in this regard? The commission should have shown an early response in defense of the economically weak. In fact, there are other supermarkets and hypermarkets besides Carrefour that lure customers from the lowest income brackets to the highest. These include Giant, Alfa, Indomaret, Hero, Matahari and many others. They operate even in the suburban areas.

As hypermarkets and supermarkets have sprung up virtually everywhere, small-scale vendors in the traditional markets or at sidewalks and roadsides suffer a big blow. These small-scale vendors have lost their customers. It is also worthy of note that these giant supermarkets and hypermarkets have their own distributors and importers.

It is now time that everybody in the government concerned over this matter should take action. Do not let the small-scale vendors wind up their businesses and join the bandwagon of unemployed people.

TAUFIK KARMADI, Jakarta