Mayor, public order chief divided over vendors' fate

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Officials of West Jakarta municipality were divided on Tuesday over the fate of hundreds of street vendors evicted from the front of Harco shopping center, Glodok.

Mayor Sarimun Hadisaputra suggested that the vendors might be allowed to operate only in the evening so that they would not disrupt traffic during office hours.

But head of the municipality's public order office Arief Fadilah said the vendors should move to city-owned Pasar Pagi traditional market on Jl. Perniagaan.

The public order officers bulldozed the area on Dec. 9, late in the evening while vendors were still away on holiday.

Hadisaputra admitted that the office had made a mistake by allowing the vendors to occupy the spot along main thoroughfare Jl. Hayam Wuruk.

However, he said, a decision had been taken to help the vendors through the monetary crisis, which started to affect the country's economic and social life in 1997.

He rebuked the vendors over the sale of illegal VCDs, saying that they should be banned as they were both a violation against intellectual rights and promoted pornography.

"But also I should not prevent them from reopening their businesses as it was a way of reducing the rising number of unemployed," he told reporters at his office on Tuesday.

About 550,000 Jakartans are currently jobless.

He said the office faced a dilemma and was seeking a win-win solution that could satisfy both vendors and the community.

"I've figured a solution: an 'open-closed' system, similar to that for street vendors who operate in front of Citraland mall, whereby the businesses open only in the evening so as not to disrupt the traffic during office hours," he added.

The vendors staged a large rally on Monday. They complained that many had lost their merchandise. They also demanded the municipality find them a solution.

Even though the administration offered them a place at Pasar Pagi, the vendors did not appear happy as the place was not as strategic as that where they formerly ran their businesses.

Meanwhile, Arief said that the vendors should move as the spot along Jl. Hayam Wuruk would be restored to its originally designated use as open space.

He also refuted irregularities in the eviction of street vendors, arguing that they had violated a joint agreement signed in 2000.

The agreement states that the vendors pledged not to sell illegal VCDs, including porn VCDs. It also states that the vendors shall accept the consequences of any such violation.

Arief also said the street vendors had failed to keep the spot safe, clean, tidy and organized, as well as not causing traffic congestion in the business district, as stated in the agreement.

"The vendors ignored the agreement that also said that they could occupy the spot for one year. In compliance with Bylaw No. 11/1988 on Public Order, we have to evict them. Advance notice is not necessary," he told The Jakarta Post.

"Moreover, it has become the center of the sale of pirated cassettes, video compact discs (VCDs) and even porn VCDs. We don't want to be permissive in the matter. Glodok is the municipality's window and we have received many complaints from the community."