Street vendors cheated out of income and stalls
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Eighty two street vendors operating near Jatinegara Railway Station in East Jakarta filed a complaint with East Jakarta Police on Tuesday, after being cheated out of Rp 3.8 million (US$380).
The unfortunate street vendors -- who were accompanied by their lawyer from the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta), Azas Tigor Nainggolan -- were promised permanent kiosks by Daeng Maulana -- who claimed to be the area coordinator for street vendors -- by paying Rp 1.5 million for a four-square-meter kiosk.
To their shock, they not only lost their money but also had their makeshift stalls demolished by the City Public Order Agency last Friday.
Saiman, a 63-year-old street vendor selling second-hand shoes, groaned that he had paid Rp 500,000 as downpayment for the promised kiosk.
"I was swindled. I had already paid Rp 2 million for five kiosks," complained another vendor.
Daeng, who is still at large, managed to deceive the vendors by providing fake documents bearing the signature of the mayor of East Jakarta and an official stamp of the mayoralty.
The East Jakarta chapter of the Coordinating Body of Indonesian Muslim Youth (Bakopmi) was also involved in the crime as it had jointly issued fake tickets bearing the mayoralty stamp to the vendors. Each vendor had paid Rp 1,000 for the tickets to Daeng every day for the past two months.
Tigor pointed out that the crime occurred because of the city administration's poor and inconsistent policy in dealing with the capital's street vendors.
"As the administration has failed to regulate areas for street vendors to conduct their business, they feel uncertain about their future. The lack of regulation has led to widespread collusion and corruption," he said.
Comr. Napoleon Bonaparte, chief of the control division of East Jakarta Police, said Daeng would be charged under Criminal Code No. 263 and 372 respectively.
"Our detectives are currently tracking down the suspect's whereabouts," he said.