Officials pressing vendors for payoffs

JAKARTA (JP): A city official has deplored the rampant collection of fees from unregistered street vendors by city administration officials, terming it "a crime".

Chrisman Siregar of the Central Jakarta public order office warned on Thursday that any officer caught conducting unofficial fee collections would be punished according to regulations.

"City officers can only collect money from registered street vendors in line with Law No. 18/1997. Otherwise, it's a crime," Chrisman said.

"Any vendor who is forced to pay must ask the officers to show their official warrants to prevent them from being duped."

As reported earlier, unregistered street vendors, whose number is estimated at 20,000, have repeatedly complained in the media that city administration officers often threaten their lives when demanding payoffs.

Lori, an unregistered vegetable vendor at Cengkareng Market in West Jakarta, said on Friday the market was run ruthlessly by "coordinators". He claimed they were appointed by West Jakarta mayor Sarimun Hadisaputra.

"Each unofficial street vendor is forced to pay up to Rp 10,000 per day to the coordinators," Lori said.

"If one of us does not pay, hoodlums will come after us."

Mudjiman, 54, who sells bekicot (snails) in the Jatinegara Market in East Jakarta, also talked of strong-arm tactics by the officials and their henchmen.

"I've been selling snails for the past 10 years. Getting beaten up by hoodlums, even public order officers, is not a new thing... sometimes, I can't afford to spare the money," Mudjiman said on Friday.(ylt)