Street vendors operate illegally

JAKARTA: Only 11,000 of more than 141,000 street vendors in the city run their business legally, a councillor said.

Syamsidar, a member of City Council Commission B for economic affairs, said private developers were expected to help deal with the problem by providing adequate space for them.

Most street vendors operate not only on sidewalks, but also on parts of streets, causing traffic jams. While many city officials, instead of regulating them, force them to pay illegal fees.

Another councillor, Dani Anwar, said that many developers had violated regulations obliging them to provide space for street vendors, Antara reported.

He criticized the city administration for its failure to make developers obey the rules.

He said that according to the regulation, a developer who builds a market or a shopping mall of between 200 and 500 square meters should build a shelter for street vendors on a plot of land equaling 20 percent of it. If a mall is between 500 square meters and 8,000 square meters, the space for street vendors should be 30 percent of it. -- JP