Mayor, public order chief divided over vendors' fate

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."