Tanah Abang victims get Ramadhan blessings
Tanah Abang victims get Ramadhan blessings
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
About 100 vendors displaced by the Tanah Abang textile market
fire are counting their blessings at their makeshift stalls set
up along the road next to the Kebon Melati basin in Central
Jakarta.
The vendors are delighted with their temporary shops as they
can earn a good income by selling Muslim clothes there.
"This place brings blessings to us, especially during the
Ramadhan fasting month," said Dedah, 44, who used to have a kiosk
in Tanah Abang.
She said that she could bring home up to Rp 80 million
(US$9,412) a day at the new location.
"Even when business is slack, we can still earn between Rp 30
million and Rp 40 million a day," she said.
The vendors selling Muslim clothes priced between Rp 60,000
and more than Rp 100,000.
Their makeshift shops stretch out along 300 meters of road
between the Kebon Melati basin and the Ascott Apartments on Jl.
Kebon Kacang in Kebon Melati subdistrict, Central Jakarta.
The strategic location, which is near office buildings along
Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin, has proven beneficial to the
vendors.
Most customers work in the office buildings. They usually
visit the stalls in the morning before going to the office or
during their lunch breaks.
"I heard about this market from my colleagues," said Niken,
25, who works in an office building in the area. "I love it here
because the prices are much cheaper than those at the Tanah Abang
market."
Niken said she was able to buy a silk mukena (female Muslim
attire for praying) for just Rp 230,000 at the temporary market.
"If I bought the same mukena at Tanah Abang, I would have had
to pay about Rp 350,000."
The vendors usually set up their makeshift stalls about
midnight and close for the day at about 4 p.m.
The city administration allows them to set up their stalls
every Monday and Thursday.
"We have a permit to open our stalls here and we are being
coordinated by Haji Ridwan from Tasik Malaya (West Java)," said
Dedah.
Ridwan helps the vendors arrange their permits and pay the
special fee to the administration during their stay there.
Dedah also said that all vendors must pay a fee of Rp 30,000
per day. However, she said the amount was negotiable, depending
on how much money the vendors earned for a particular day.
Most of the vendors operating at the site are those who failed
to secure a spot in the Block D parking lot at the Tanah Abang
market.
But the vendors are going to have to move back to the Tanah
Abang market after Idul Fitri. They will be relocated to Block F2
in the market. Some of the vendors have already moved back to the
market and now occupy kiosks in Block A.
Tanah Abang, which used to be the largest textile market in
Southeast Asia, was badly damaged by a fire on Feb. 19. More than
2,500 kiosks in blocks A, C and E were destroyed during the
blaze.
The administration and city market operator PD Pasar Jaya plan
to rebuild the market and add another parking lot on a plot of
land owned by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency. They have
said the project will take about two years to complete.