T. Abang vendors to lose permits, says operator
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
A court order meant to protect the livelihoods of 3,000 vendors in the Tanah Abang textile market would actually stop most of them from trading, the market's operator claims.
City-run market operator PD Pasar Jaya said it would not be able to renew the permits of more than 2,600 of the vendors because of an asset preservation order issued by the Central Jakarta District Court.
The order would forbid PD Pasar Jaya from renovating, tearing down or selling the market indefinitely. The company, which is in a dispute with the traders over planned renovations, says the order would also restrict it from administrative business.
Only 600 traders, whose long-term permits expire in 2007 and 2024, would not be affected by the ruling, PD Pasar Jaya lawyer Listyo Winarno said.
A spokesman for the traders, Sofyan Masyud, said they were disturbed by the claim.
"I can't immediately comment on this situation. I have to discuss it first with other traders to look deeper into the case," he told The Jakarta Post.
Listyo said the court order would "only boomerang back on the traders".
"Under the current legal status, the company will not be able to renew the permits," he said. Traders whose permits had expired must leave the premises, he said.
However, Listyo also said PD Pasar Jaya had yet to receive the order, or the details of a separate civil lawsuit filed against it by traders at the West Jakarta District Court.
Traders took the action against PD Pasar Jaya and its private business partner, PT Sari Kebon Jeruk Permai, on Nov. 22 to fight the two entities' plans for the market.
As the market is located in Central Jakarta, the West Jakarta court has requested the Central Jakarta court to execute the preservation order.
However, a court spokesman confirmed it had yet to issue the order on Friday.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso suspected that the latest ruling was marred by "irregularities". He said the West Jakarta court had failed to inform the city, as the owner of the land and property, prior to the execution of the order.
"The court should have issued summonses for hearings before making any ruling," he said.
Listyo said PD Pasar Jaya planned to sue the traders at the Central Jakarta court in response.
"We will also request the court revoke the ruling," he said.
The market operator and PT Sari plan to completely rebuild Tanah Abang's Market's blocks B, C, D and E.
A study by the Bandung Institute of Technology' School of Civil Engineering says the four blocks are in danger of collapsing because they are gravely structurally unsound.
Traders oppose the plan because they say the fees the operator plans to charge in the new market are too high.
The traders, some of whom have permits to operate in the old market until 2024, also oppose its demolition.