Porters spend their nights at Kramatjati market

Text and photos by Agus Y. Ranu

JAKARTA (JP): In the dead of night, 12:50 a.m., most Jakartans are fast asleep. In the encompassing darkness, bare light bulbs shine on stacks of fresh fruit and vegetables. Deflected light radiates from the fruit and vegetable skins.

A truck with East Java license plates, loaded to the brim with mangoes, drives slowly looking for Pak Yunus' kiosk. Yunus is one of the mango wholesalers at the Kramatjati wholesale produce market in East Jakarta.

A number of men were running along both sides of the truck. As soon as the truck stopped, they unloaded its contents. The mango crates were unloaded one by one and stacked neatly in the corner of the kiosk. The dry season's cold night wind did not stop the sweat pouring profusely from the porters' brows. There was not the slightest sign of fatigue on their faces. Elsewhere in the market, a similar scene unfolded when a truck from Brebes, Central Java, unloaded onions and red chilies.

Fruit and vegetables consumed by Jakartans come from towns outside the capital city, aside from imports. The towns which supply produce for Jakarta include Cipanas, Sukabumi, Garut, Tegal, Brebes, Purwokerto, Wonosobo, Temanggung, Malang, Probolinggo, Medan, Jambi and Palembang. Regional traders supply fruit and vegetables to the wholesalers at the Kramatjati market.

Retailers then buy the fruit and vegetables from the wholesalers to sell to end users at smaller markets throughout Jakarta, or, they hawk them in residential areas.

It is intriguing to follow the progress of fruits and vegetables, from their arrival at the Kramatjati market to their final squeeze by Jakartan housewives.

Trucks, big and small, arrive at Kramatjati and then porters unload the produce into kiosks or wholesalers' storage areas.

After retailers and wholesalers end their transactions, it is the porters who get busy again. They carry and load the produce onto vehicles used by the retailers to transport the fruit and vegetables.

As yet, the porters cannot be replaced with sophisticated equipment. There is admirable strength in their bodies, which do not look all that powerful. A bag of vegetables or a crate of fruit weighing dozens of kilograms is lifted in one movement without a twinge. Some of the porters are capable of carrying more than 150 kilograms. But above all, there is an even more admirable strength emanating from their faces -- a fire kindled by a fighting spirit in facing the realities of a hard life that is often unfriendly to them.

There are three types of vehicles transporting fruit and vegetables from Kramatjati to smaller markets: oplet (vans), trucks and market buses. The oplet are hired for small cargoes and travel short distances. For locations on a permanent route, market buses are the cheapest choice. Medium-size trucks are preferred for longer distances and locations outside the bus routes.

Only four market buses are now in operation. Quite often, only three of them are available to deliver to retailers. The buses frequent the routes to Pondok Labu and Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, Grogol and Kota, West Jakarta, and Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

The buses leave their garage at Ciputat in Tangerang, West Java, at 4 a.m. By 5:30 a.m., they are queuing at a special stop inside the Kramatjati wholesale produce market. It takes many hours to load the buses. At 8.30 a.m., the buses transport their regular customers to various destinations. On regular work days, the market buses make a maximum of two trips. On busy days, such as prior to the Idul Fitri holiday and the year's end, they make three or four trips.

The market buses' fares are determined by the goods transported, while the passengers, who own the goods, travel free of charge. A sack of vegetables weighing 100 kilograms, for example, is charged Rp 1,500. A mid-sized crate of fruit costs Rp 1,000 and a small one Rp 500. Payments are collected before the buses begin their routes.

It is also possible that market buses can be found at the Kramatjati market only. They regularly serve women fruit and vegetables retailers. The buses are old but reliable and are capable of competing with new buses. For retailers, especially the smaller ones, this means of transportation, in operation since 1974, is their only choice considering their scale of business.

The cooperation of retailers, porters and market bus operators is beneficial for all parties. Their interdependence is a dynamic pulse that continues to beat and to give life.