Tanah Abang vendors to be relocated

Tanah Abang vendors to be relocated

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

City-run market operator PD Pasar Jaya will relocate about 2,000
street vendors on Jl. Kebon Jati, located next to Tanah Abang
textile market, Central Jakarta, starting on Nov. 14, the day
before Idul Fitri.

PD Pasar Jaya president director Prabowo Soenirman said in a
meeting at the City Council on Wednesday that the street vendors
would have to pay Rp 4 million (US$440) per square-meter to rent
a kiosk at the new market.

Jl. Kebon Jati, which separates Tanah Abang and Kebon Jati
markets, has four lanes but three of them are occupied by street
vendors. Only one lane remains available for passing vehicles.

Prabowo said that street vendors would be able to resume
business one week after Idul Fitri at the Kebon Jati market,
which will be called Block G.

The vacant road will serve as a temporarily location for
traders, whose kiosks at Tanah Abang's Block B, C, D and E will
be demolished.

The demolition is to meet the call from the City Construction
Supervision and Regulation Agency (PPB) which said that the
market would collapse within two years due to its deteriorating
structure.

Tanah Abang will be converted into a 12-hectare mega-project
stretching from the textile market to Tanah Abang railway
station. The Rp 6 trillion project will consist of a wholesale
market, trade center, office buildings, three-star hotels and
low-cost apartments.

In the meeting, councillors questioned PD Pasar Jaya's reasons
to demolish the market buildings.

Councillor Ahmad Nur Alam of Commission A for administrative
and legal affairs asked PD Pasar Jaya for a second opinion from
the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)'s study that
recommended the demolition.

Prabowo had said earlier in his letter that vendors could get
a second opinion, but it would not affect the administration's
plan.

Councillors then proposed the establishment of an inquiry team
to study the prolonged debate.

Deputy council speaker Maringan Pangaribuan said the result of
Wednesday's meeting would be discussed in the Council leaders'
meeting before it passed the recommendation.