Kemayoran vendors out of business

Kemayoran vendors out of business

JAKARTA: Hundreds of makeshift stalls belonging to sidewalk
vendors along main roads in the Kemayoran area were demolished,
while their carts were taken to a government store in Cakung,
East Jakarta, following a large-scale raid on Wednesday.

"We carried out the raid at midday so as to avoid violence as
many of the vendors were taking a rest," an officer from the
Kemayoran district administration said, adding that about 90
police officers, soldiers and public order officers were deployed
to carry out the evictions.

The evictions targeted vendors in front of the Serdang market
on Jl. Serdang Raya, Jl. Benyamin Sueb, Jl. Letjen Suprapto and
around the Cempaka Mas commercial complex.

"We want to keep the area orderly," said Bambang Sugiono, an
assistant for economic and development affairs with the Central
Jakarta municipal administration, as quoted by Tempointeraktif.

Buyung, one of the vendors on Jl. Benyamin Sueb, said that
their presence there should not have been a problem as they
usually paid district administration officials for their sidewalk
sports.

The vendors said they would have to pay Rp 600,000 (about
US$70) each to get their carts back. -- JP