Special sites for vendors planned

Special sites for vendors planned

JAKARTA (JP): A City Council commission called on all five
mayoralty offices on Thursday to open special sites for vendors
who now occupy many of Jakarta's busy streets to the point of
disrupting the flow of traffic.

Commission B on Economic Affairs said something must be done
to contain the swelling number of street vendors. While they
provide valuable economic services, especially during the
economic crisis, their presence must also be regulated, it said.

The proposal was conveyed by commission chairman Syarief
Zulkarnaen during a meeting with the head of the City's Economic
Bureau, Dameria Saragih, to discuss solutions for street vendors.

"The administration has failed to come up with a proper
approach to solve the problem. They have become uncontrollable,
occupying the streets, parking lots and sidewalks," Syarief said.

He warned of dire social problems unless a solution was
quickly found, noting that the administration currently has the
capacity to foster only 20,000 small vendors.

Improper treatment by City Public Order officials have further
aggravated the traders, he said.

The commission lauded the Central Jakarta Mayoralty for its
plan to provide a huge space for small traders in the new four-
story Senen bus terminal when it is completed in January.

It said that this could be a model for other mayoralties.

Syarief said money should not have been a major problem since
the administration had ran a Rp 879 billion (US$92.5 million)
surplus in the 1999/2000 budget which ended on March 31.

Council deputy chairman Muhammad Suwardi stressed the need for
a humane approach to the problem of street vendors, recalling the
warnings by some traders of violent resistance if the
administration tried to remove them by force.

Dameria said PD Pasar Jaya, the city agency which manages 151
markets, have been ordered to accommodate street vendors in their
respective locations.

But she said street vendors preferred to conduct their
businesses in the open, such as on streets and sidewalks.

Damaria said the administration would look into the
commission's proposal to set up special locations for street
vendors. (06)