Mayor call for order at Pondok Labu market
Mayor call for order at Pondok Labu market
JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta Mayor H. Pardjoko has expressed
concern over the many street vendors who recklessly operate in
and around the Pondok Labu market.
Pardjoko ordered his subordinates to immediately patrol the
vendors operating at Pondok Labu market and check for proper
licensing and positioning.
"All members of the South Jakarta mayoralty office have to put
the vendors in order so as to prevent them from obstructing
traffic flow and to help maintain cleanliness in the area,"
Pardjoko said to Antara after leading an operation against
negligent vendors on Sunday morning.
During the operation, Pardjoko was accompanied by a number of
noted figures in the mayoralty.
The order to get rid of the vendors was made by Pardjoko after
he found out that many sellers did not take heed of the mayor's
call for cleanliness.
Pardjoko was increasingly emotional and commanded his officers
to demolish tents and other facilities used for the vendors'
business activities.
The Pondok Labu marketplace was renovated last year and looked
more like a shopping center than a traditional market on its
opening day. But after just a few weeks the street vendors that
were cleared away during the renovation herded back. They
returned to their original spots, leaving the place as filthy as
it was before renovation.
"The action was imperative because the vendors did not show
the will to obey the mayoralty's law and order," Pardjoko
explained furiously.
After the operation, the mayor held an informal meeting with
members of the local neighborhood community in search of ways to
solve the problem.
Jufri, a university lecturer who lives near the market,
suggested that the mayoralty allow the vendors to operate at a
deserted 4,000 square-metre plot near the market.
Pardjoko accepted the proposal in principle but didn't have
any information about the owner of the land.
Pardjoko also demanded the mayoralty's information office to
be swifter and more efficient in prohibiting street vendors. He
also asked the mayoralty's sanitation office to further encourage
the South Jakarta public to live hygienically in order to win the
Adipura trophy for cleanest area. (23)