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