Street vendors mushrooming in Ramadhan

Street vendors mushrooming in Ramadhan

Street vendors (left photo) almost totally cover a street near
Tanah Abang textile and garment market in Central Jakarta,
causing horrendous traffic jams in the area.

The number of street vendors in the area is increasing
drastically, especially during the Muslim fasting month of
Ramadhan, a peak season for garment traders.

Street vendors are now free to operate as the city
administration finally bowed to pressure to temporarily stop the
crackdown against vendors.

The city administration has promised to stop conducting raids
on street vendors during Ramadhan although they do business on
almost all streets in the city and disturb traffic flow.

After the Public Order Office stopped its raids against street
vendors, the city cooperatives and small enterprises agency said
on Tuesday that the city administration planned to give a legal
status to some 600,000 street vendors in the capital.

The administration will submit a draft bylaw to the city's
legislative body to collect a daily fee from street vendors at
between Rp 800 and Rp 1,000 per vendor per day, starting next
year.