Tn. Abang vendors 'must be llegalized'
Tn. Abang vendors 'must be llegalized'
JAKARTA (JP): The municipality must legalize street vendors
operating in the overcrowded Tanah Abang market in Central
Jakarta to simplify control and supervision of the area,
councilors said yesterday.
Afiff Hamka, a member of Commission E for welfare affairs,
told The Jakarta Post that Tanah Abang was problematic because
the city had never acknowledged the vendors' existence.
"The vendors are treated like they have some kind of disease.
It's the wrong approach," he said. "The city should change its
thinking and treat the 1,352 vendors as the city's economic
assets," Hamka said.
Central Jakarta Mayor Andi Subur Abdullah said, after the
weekend's massive cleanup operation, that his mayoralty would no
longer tolerate the mushrooming number of street vendors.
He said the vendors' existence was illegal and the city wanted
them off the streets.
"The city has never collected any levies from them. If we do,
it's the same as admitting that their activities are legal."
However, illegal levies are reportedly collected from the
vendors by hoodlums and some city officials.
Hamka urged the city administration to make an accurate list
of existing sidewalk traders and issue identification cards.
By doing so, the municipality could control the number of
existing traders and reduce the influence of hoodlums, he said.
"If Tanah Abang vendors could be organized like other street
traders in Asian capitals, such as Bangkok, the city would have
no problems handling the vendors."
In Bangkok, street vendors must obey city rules, such as
displaying ID cards, keeping the street free of trash and obeying
restricted operating hours.
"Under such regulations, the government can control and
relocate the vendors if they overcrowd the sites," Hamka said.
City Councilor Elishman Iljas from the United Development
Party faction agreed with Hamka's idea.
The municipality must have clear objectives backed up by
strong political will, he said.
"The municipality built Kebon Jati market but it was left
vacant because some officials 'let' the traders operate on the
streets again so they could collect levies. These kind of
practices must be stopped," Iljas said.
"Eventually the new Kebon Jati market, which cost some Rp 1
billion (US$303,030), was abandoned and became a prostitution and
gambling spot. What a waste."
Hamka urged the municipality to make proper use of the market.
"The city has to relocate the street vendors to the market
and start gathering information to compile a list of vendors
before the fasting month of Ramadhan begins (in January)," he
said.
According to security officials, keeping the Tanah Abang
vendors off the streets is easier said than done.
"The traders play hardball. I doubt that a thin steel fence
will keep them off the streets. I'm sure one of these days
somebody will tear down the fence," an official said, referring
to the portable fence installed by the municipality to stop
vendors operating on the streets.
"I get a headache every time I have to discuss the Tanah Abang
issue," Lt. Col. Moeldoko, the chief of Central Jakarta military
district, said. (07)