Plan on Tanah Abang market privatization turned down

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Would the chronic problems related to unruly street vendors and the heavy congestion around Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta vanish if Southeast Asia's largest textile center was privatized?

Many doubt it, including city councillors.

They said on Monday the problems facing the market, which is owned by city market operator PD Pasar Jaya, could not be solved by privatization.

"Instead of selling the market, PD Pasar Jaya should improve the management of the market," councillor Batu Tahan Marpaung of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said.

The improvement of the market management should involve not only PD Pasar Jaya, but other parties connected with the six- hectare market, such as the Central Jakarta Municipality, the Jakarta Public Order Office and the city administration.

Bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order should be more firmly enforced to regulate traders who currently occupy the roads around the market.

The market, which consists of six blocks and thousands of shops, has total annual transactions worth Rp 15 trillion (US$1.5 billion).

Selling the market to a private firm would be against the city's mission to protect public welfare.

"Profit is important, but public service should also be a top priority. A private firm would only think of making profit," Marpaung who is also a member of the City Council's Commission B for economic affairs, remarked.

The market, which serves buyers from across the country and foreign traders -- mostly from India and African countries, is reportedly being eyed by local and foreign investors.

The idea of selling the market was disclosed by PD Pasar Jaya on Friday. "But we are not selling the market itself. The private firm would only take over the market management," PD Pasar Jaya's president Syahrir Tanjung said.

He said the privatization program, which would be finalized by a special team, was aimed at improving the market's performance as well as fixing its problems, including those related to the street vendors, in order to be able to contribute more to the city's revenue. The market contributed Rp 2.4 billion in 1999.

PD Pasar Jaya has been frequently criticized for it's low contribution to city revenue even though it has a total of 151 markets under the company management.

If PD Pasar Jaya wants to privatize its markets, they should privatize markets that do not bring profits to the city, councillor Marpaung said. "Why doesn't Pasar Jaya encourage private firms to manage its other markets, where many of the kiosks are still empty?"