Tanah Abang traders neglect buyers amid mass protest
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta
Many buyers, including some from out of town, were shocked to see that almost all the shops at the Tanah Abang textile market in Central Jakarta, were closed as the owners were taking part in a massive protest opposing the city administration's plan to reconstruct the market.
"I came all the way from Yogyakarta to buy garments and textiles from my suppliers here. But the kiosks were closed," Amran told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Amran, who has five garment shops in Yogyakarta, was only one of hundreds of customers who were disappointed with the closure. He arrived at the market -- the biggest textile market in Southeast Asia -- at 8 a.m. after traveling for nine hours overnight by car from Yogyakarta with his driver.
"I had tried to persuade my suppliers to work with me but they refused to do so," he said.
Although there are other places selling garments and textiles such as Mangga Dua in West Jakarta and Cipulir in South Jakarta, the prices are at least 2 percent higher compared to Tanah Abang.
"Since we buy large quantities at wholesale, a 2 percent difference is significant for us," Amran said, adding that he would head to Cipulir anyway rather than go home empty-handed.
Around 5,000 traders from the market's Block B, C, D and E closed down their shops for the day to go protest, although it meant an estimated Rp 150 billion (US$16.3 million) in financial losses for the one-day closure.
They massive protests took place in front of the State Palace and later City Hall.
The vendors demanded the administration halt its plan to close down the four blocks and reconstruct them, following a recommendation from the City's Construction Supervision and Regulation Agency, which decided that the buildings were at a very high risk of collapse.
The recommendation was based on an evaluation carried out by the Bandung Institute of Technology's School of Civil Engineering on May 10, revealing that the original quality of the concrete used in the buildings was very poor.
The reconstruction is scheduled to start in early October, just before Ramadhan.
The protesters, however, did not get an audience with either President Megawati Soekarnoputri or Governor Sutiyoso, who had just left for a week-long trip to Papua. They later met with a City Public Order Agency official Syarifuddin Arsyad.
A protester, Sofyan, said the reconstruction plan had affected their business because their investors and clients, including banks and textile firms, doubted that their business would continue.
He urged the administration to delay the plans, pending the completion of the market's Block A renovation in the next two years. Block A was gutted by a massive fire that began on Feb. 19, 2003 and burned for several days.
Ibrahim, who was one of the spokespersons for the nearly 5,000 porters, and Rudi, the coordinator of street vendors operating just outside the market, made similar demands. Rudi asked for more time to prepare kiosks so the vendors could still operate during Ramadhan.
Another trader Abin complained that there were two short circuit incidents in the market on Monday and last Friday, and he hoped there would be a team appointed to check the electricity network. "I'm not accusing any party of being responsible (for the short circuits). But, it's better to prevent possible fires."
Syarifuddin said he would convey their demands to Sutiyoso.