New bylaw enforcement postponed for a month

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration has been forced to delay until next month the enforcement of a new bylaw on private shopping markets that is expected to promote small-scale traders, following strong objection from business associations.

"The new bylaw has been signed (by Governor Sutiyoso), but given the strong opposition from business associations, we need to explain it to them first," said administration spokesman Muhayat.

He said that the administration would gather together the businesspeople concerned in the middle of this month.

"There will be no change in the bylaw as it has been finalized. Once the explanation has been done, we will start to enforce the bylaw," he said.

Muhayat, however, could not specify exactly when the bylaw would be enforced.

According to the new bylaw, which was approved by the City Council last month, a private market operator should provide between 10 percent and 20 percent of its space for informal traders.

Agus Darmawan of City Council Commission B overseeing economic affairs, said the administration's respective offices, including that for economic affairs, would be responsible for the assessment and appointment of small-scale traders.

Agus, from the National Mandate Party, said the new bylaw aimed at empowering small-scale traders and scrapping irregularities established by the previous regulation, gubernatorial decree No. 5/1998 on private shopping markets.

In that decree, a market operator that did not wish to provide space for small-scale traders would be permitted to pay compensation in lieu to the administration.

Agus said the compensation ruling was unfair. For instance, he said, the compensation payable in lieu of 20 percent of the space being made available to small traders at ITC Cempaka Mas, in Central Jakarta, was only around Rp 1 billion, while the cheapest shop-house there sold for at least Rp 1.5 billion (US$173,410).

The new bylaw also carries a maximum sentence of three months in jail, or a maximum fine of Rp 5 million.

Four business associations, the Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI), the Shopping Center Management Association (APPBI), the Indonesian Property Management Association (AMPRI) and the Indonesian Retail Businessmen's Association (APRINDO), last week protested the bylaw.

"It will deal another blow to already slack business, as we would have to provide space to sidewalk vendors whom the city administration has failed to accommodate," head of the Jakarta chapter APBBI Stefanus Ridwan told The Jakarta Post.