Koja vendors leave site for port project
JAKARTA (JP): More than 100 street vendors along Jl. Pantai Laut, in the North Koja area of North Jakarta, have voluntarily taken down their semi-permanent kiosks in keeping with the city ordinance to vacate the area.
"Several municipality officials helped the owners demolish their kiosks on Wednesday in order to speed up the land acquisition," said Soesantomo, whose home is next door to the abandoned vendors on Jl.Pantai Laut.
As a result of the same city decree, Soesantomo told The Jakarta Post yesterday that most of the street vendors have started to occupy dozens of neighboring empty houses.
The houses were abandoned by their owners when they received compensation from a local consortium planning to build a new container terminal project in the area.
Meanwhile, government officials, military officers and dozens of workers started to bulldoze houses on Jl. Dusun and Jl. Dobo yesterday without any resistance from the owners even though they wanted a delay in the demolition to allow to pack.
"We still need time to pack our belongings," a resident said helplessly.
Last year, Jakarta's administration persuaded other residents to abandon their land in the same North Koja area after letting PT Pelindo II, a state-owned port company, and the Humpuss business group, jointly build a container terminal on a 90- hectare plot.
Humpuss is controlled by Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra,the youngest son of President Soeharto.
Refused
Some 40,000 people who used to live in the area, however, refused to receive the proposed compensation amount of Rp 160,000 (US$74) per square meter and demanded that PT Pelindo II compensate with Rp 2,275,000 ($1,083) per square meter.
Slamet, a former street vendor, said yesterday that he is still looking for another place to rebuild his business.
He said that the street vendors had received compensation payment ranging from Rp 200,000 to Rp 800,000.
The majority of North Jakartans allowed the street vendors to open their stalls in 1991 as part of efforts to get them more involved in the "Visit Indonesia Year" campaign.
Soesantomo questioned whether it was appropriate or not to allow street vendors to sell goods that, in his opinion, did not attract either foreign or domestic tourists.
Hasan Saman, the spokesman for the residents, said that around 2,000 people had already accepted the compensation.
The North Jakarta administration disagreed, claiming that 3,500 residents had already accepted the compensation money and agreed to abandon their houses.
Soesantomo said that currently only six of around fifty families who used to live on Jl. Pantai Laut preferred to stay and fight through legal channels.
"The others have moved," he said, referring to his neighbors on Jl. Pulau Laut, which is located along the shore of Jakarta Bay.(09)