Pasar Jaya suspends plan to demolish Tanah Abang market
Pasar Jaya suspends plan to demolish Tanah Abang market
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
City-run market operator PD Pasar Jaya finally bowed to pressure
from traders and city councillors by suspending the demolition of
the Tanah Abang textile market in Central Jakarta.
"There will be no activity here until the council's team of
inquiry finishes its job," said PD Pasar Jaya's Tanah Abang
market area manager Tasori, when he met on Friday with
councillors of Commission B for economic affairs and Commission D
for development affairs.
The inquiry team comprises 27 councillors, and was set up to
investigate possible irregularities in the appointment of a
private company to rebuild the market's blocks B, C, D and E.
Commission D chairman Sayogo Hendrosubroto, said, during the
visit, that the team would appoint an independent institution to
give a second opinion, after a study carried out by the Bandung
Institute of Technology (ITB) recommended the market's
demolition, due to the deteriorating condition of the four
buildings.
Sayogo said the inquiry team, of which he is a member, needed
around two months to complete its investigation.
PD Pasar Jaya president director Prabowo Soenirman said
earlier that the company would go ahead with the demolition of
the market in January. He claimed he did not need the council's
approval to rebuild the market.
But Tasori said that the suspension had been approved by PD
Pasar Jaya's board of directors.
The market operator had signed a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with developer PT Sari Kebon Keruk Permai to rebuild the
market.
Tanah Abang traders also protested the fencing off of Jl.
Kebon Jati next to the market, following the relocation of 1,247
vendors from the road to Kebon Jati market, on the eve of the
Idul Fitri, Nov. 13.
They said the fencing with zinc sheets had decreased their
sales, as buyers thought the market had closed down.
PD Pasar Jaya plans to build temporary kiosks on the road to
accommodate some 3,000 traders, who currently operate in the four
blocks. The relevant agencies have issued permits for the
construction of the temporary kiosks.
On Friday, workers were seen making preparations to construct
the temporary kiosks and a bridge connecting block F of Tanah
Abang market and Kebon Jati market. They had removed lane
dividers from the road and begun constructing the foundations of
the bridge.