Relocated vendors say new site a business liability

Relocated vendors say new site a business liability

JAKARTA (JP): Former vendors of Taman Puring market complained
on Friday there were poor prospects at their new designated site
on Jl. Ciputat Raya in South Jakarta.

Interviewed separately after the inauguration of the new venue
by State Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium
Enterprises Zarkasih Nur, vendors said the new location was less
strategic than their previous trading spot, also in South
Jakarta.

"Public transportation and private vehicles pass Taman Puring
from all city corners every day," said Jafar, a watch and
antiques vendor.

The site occupies a 1,200-square-meter plot on the southern
tip of the Kebayoran Lama market complex, about two meters away
from the Jakarta-Serpong railway line. Passersby unfamiliar with
the area may not be able to clearly recognize the market as it is
obscured by a shop building, with only the tip of the market
visible.

Jafar said the circumstances would affect the traders' income
because there would be fewer visitors.

"Since we left the old market two months ago, we have suffered
a sharp decline in our earnings," said Jafar, adding that he
could only earn around Rp 20,000 (US$2.80) to Rp 30,000 on Friday
compared to an average of Rp 50,000 at the old market.

A shoe and racket vendor, Yettha Kikhau, voiced the same
complaint.

"We used to earn Rp 500,000 a day at the old place, but now we
can only earn Rp 100,000 a day," he told the Post.

However, Yettha was optimistic business would improve.

"We rely for our livelihood on old customers these days. But,
we hope that as time goes by, new buyers will come to this
place," he said.

There are about 500 kiosks -- with poles made of wood, roofs
of metal and dirt floors -- which are mostly one meter by one
meter. They stand face-to-face, with a one-meter-wide pathway for
visitors.

Dozens of visitors were observed on Friday.

Sugiarto, a buyer, complained about the lack of space for
visitors.

"I can't imagine if the number of buyers increases. They will
not be able to move from one kiosk to another," said the retired
police colonel.

Yettha is luckier than Jafar since he already occupied a
kiosk.

"Each kiosk owner is required to pay Rp 2,500 a day to the
management for the kiosk rental fee," he said.

Jafar is one of the traders who did not secure a kiosk before
they were sold out.

He has been forced to display his secondhand goods on a cloth
outside the kiosk area. He hoped the city administration would
build new kiosks for the other vendors.

An employee of the market management, Lukman, said the
administration would build other kiosks in the near future.

"The administration will also build parking lots near the
Mahkota movie theater to attract buyers," he said of the market's
current lack of parking spaces.

Minister Zarkasih Nur told the traders to make full use of the
new trading site.

"Please enjoy your business here. Don't be discouraged by the
limited facilities.

"The most important thing is that you are still able to trade,
although with a small amount of capital," he told the vendors.

Taman Puring's vendors were incensed when the city
administration decided to move them from the park early this year
and to restore the park's function as green area. Local residents
complained of traffic jams and garbage from the market. (asa)