'To earn a living is a basic right'

The city cooperatives and small and medium enterprises agency recently admitted that it has no budget to relocate around 147,000 registered street vendors and thousands of unregistered ones. The vendors have frequently being evicted, and reportedly abused by public order officers in the process. The Jakarta Post talked to some residents about the issue.

Niken Ayu Purbasari, 30, works for a non-governmental organization dealing with children's issues. Her office is located in Cirendeu, South Jakarta, while she lives in Bekasi:

Street vendors are usually unaware that their stalls bother pedestrians and spoil the view. As long as they feel comfortable in that area, regardless of whether it's dirty and smelly, they'll stay that way.

If we want to solve the problem, we should relocate them. A location like in Senen, where many street vendors sell books, or in Jatinegara, would suit them.

As long as the city administration maintains supervision and tells them not to bother people, we should give vendors the chance to earn a living. After all, they're just poor people who are trying to survive.

Chris, 31, works for an advertising agency in Jakarta. He lives in Duren Tiga area, South Jakarta:

Street vendors have become a problem for this city over the last five years, but I don't see any solutions coming from the city administration. Well, the vendors are evicted from time to time, but you may have noticed that their number -- as well as the number of locations that they occupy -- is increasing.

Perhaps the presence of the street vendors actually benefits "scrupulous" public order officers.

If the government really wants the city clean from street vendors, then it should find them jobs. I think it's people's basic right to earn a living. No one, not even the government, can stop them from doing business, unless they are offered a better way to get a steady income.

--The Jakarta Post