'To earn a living is a basic right'

'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