Street vendors in Melawai oppose relocation program
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of street vendors occupying several streets in the crowded Blok M shopping complex in Melawai, South Jakarta, have refused to leave the site and be relocated to other areas.
Interviewed separately on Wednesday, the traders -- numbering in the hundreds -- simply said that they had been running their businesses at the site without any objections from other parties, including the authorities.
"This is a market complex and we just want to sell our goods here without any intention of harming other vendors' businesses or creating insecurity in the area," Boy, a shoe vendor, said.
The current location, particularly those areas located near the city-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya building, the rear part of Melawai Plaza, between the Gramedia bookstore and Pasaraya department store, have provided good earnings for their businesses and many people are already familiar with their presence.
"We've been here for at least three years now and always have customers coming to purchase our merchandise, even during the crisis, because it's a good place to shop," Boy said.
"I believe that the public, especially purchasers, have no objection to us doing business in the area because they can buy things here that they cannot afford to buy at the big stores in this complex," he added.
Moreover, he and the his fellow vendors have been paying a daily levy worth between Rp 3,000 and Rp 5,000 to local officials.
The area is now packed with hundreds of traders, who build temporary, makeshift kiosks to sell a wide range of goods, including fake items, such as wristwatches, shoes, garments, perfumes and bags.
They run their businesses on sidewalks and in parking lots, thus disrupting the movement of visitors and vehicles.
Storekeepers inside the PD Pasar Jaya market, for example, have been complaining about the growing number of street vendors and the ensuing scarcity of potential customers in their stores.
Councillors from Commission B on economic affairs visited the location on Tuesday, following a complaint from storekeepers operating businesses inside the building.
After the visit, the councillors urged the local mayoralty to do their utmost to remove the street vendors in a bid to restore order to the popular shopping complex, which is close to the busy Blok M bus terminal.
The councillors wanted the public facilities in the area to be returned to their original functions.
A garment vendor Amarullah said he could not understand the councillors' idea, saying that it would not work unless the authorities could provide a prospective site for the relocation of their businesses.
"Otherwise (the plan) will only create social unrest here," he added emotionally.
Oktrado, a bag vendor, questioned the reasons behind the collection by city officials of levies from the vendors should they (the vendors) be regarded as being undesirable.
"We pay Rp 3,000 to Rp 5,000 daily to the officials. If we're not allowed to do business here, why didn't they (the officials) ban us from the beginning," he said.
Oktrado, therefore, suggested that the city authorities first meet with the traders before carrying out the plan.
"We need guarantees, not just promises, from the officials, since this concerns the livelihoods of hundreds of vendors," Oktrado said. (06)