Low fair attendance hits vendors hard

By Yustinus B. Solakira

JAKARTA (JP): A group of girls are seen chatting in a food corner at the Jakarta Fair grounds. In the same stall are a group of young men sipping coffee and smoking.

"It's just one of those quiet days," exclaimed one stall attendant.

It is a typical complaint made by vendors when asked how business is that day.

The plummeting number of visitors to this year's Jakarta Fair has affected thousands of small-scale vendors trying their luck in the Kemayoran exhibition grounds, Central Jakarta.

The month-long fair, which businesses use to promote their products, has provided temporary work to over 20,000 people with a daily minimum wage of about Rp 7,500 (US$3.30).

The popular evening event also draws countless street vendors who hawk their merchandise outside the grounds because they do not have the money to hire kiosks inside. They sell anything from fried bananas to cigarettes.

The decrease in attendance has undoubtedly worried the fair's organizers, who targeted three million visitors this year.

By Saturday of the second week, only 702,214 people had visited the fair, or a little over 54,000 visitors every night. The lowest attendance was recorded last week when only 20,000 tickets were sold in one night.

More than 2,400 local and foreign companies as well as provincial administrations are taking part in the revelry that was opened by Vice President Try Sutrisno on June 17 and will close on July 15.

The low attendance has been generally linked to the inadequate public transport means, especially late at night, heavy traffic jams in the area and occasional drizzle.

According to Muchsin Yanis of PT Jakarta International Trade Fair Corporation, the organizer of the fair, the company has cooperated with the city-owned bus company to serve passengers from all corners of the city to the fair location in order to boost the number of visitors.

The city traffic and transportation office has also mobilized at least 826 public transportation vehicles of various land transport companies to take the visitors to the fair and back home.

In actual fact though, only seven or eight buses come into the vicinity of the fair each night, Yanis complains.

In addition, taxis drivers refuse to use their meters. Instead they name their own prices which are far higher than the normal fares.

"I'm afraid that my capital will not even break even," says Saimin, who sells bakso, a noodle and meatball dish, outside the fairgrounds.

Trying hard to cover losses, some vendors inside the fairground cannot resist the temptation to raise their prices. They usually do not have price lists and let their customers know the price only after they have finished their meals. Inexperienced customers become their victims. Those familiar with such tricks will ask prices before they order food.

One may be surprised to find they have to pay Rp 4,000 for a cup of tea which sells for Rp 1,000 elsewhere.

Some vendors, who have to pay Rp 150,000 and Rp 250,000 to obtain permits, exclusive of regular taxes, acknowledge that they see no better way to make a quick return of their capital.

The condition is worsened by the presence of "illegal" vendors who enter the fairgrounds and sell goods at lower prices because they do not pay for official permits, but instead pay just Rp 1,000 in "grease" money.

"But sometimes we are still pursued by the fair security officials," Udin, a banana fritter seller from Cirebon, West Java said.

Yanis, who oversees the vendors at the fair, told The Jakarta Post that he expects a significant rise in the number of visitors over the remaining two weeks when Jakartans are no longer preoccupied with schooling.

After July 5, parents and children will have solved any school-related problems and have more time for recreation before the new academic year begins on July 15, he said.

Yanis also criticized vendors who raise prices out of all proportion. "They should have price lists," he said. "They should sell their goods at the normal rate."

The outrageous prices have apparently discouraged visitors and it is hawkers outside the fairgrounds that benefit.

"I'd rather buy food outside the fairgrounds because you can get it 50 percent cheaper out there," said Else, a student.

The organizer has provided six locations within the fair arena for 188 street vendors who offer anything from toys, drinks, to food. They are charged Rp 75,000 for a permit each.

"They contributed more than Rp 14 million in the last two weeks to the organizer," Yanis said.