Traders against ruling on used clothes

Traders against ruling on used clothes

JAKARTA: Dozens of activists from the Medan-based Association
of Used Clothes Traders (APPB) held a peaceful protest at the
lobby of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Tuesday, demanding
that the government revoke the ban on the importing of used
clothes.

They said the ban issued by Minister of Industry and Trade
Rini MS Soewandi on Sept. 23, 2002 was a violation of people's
right to access employment and a proper income.

The association's chairman Agus Ngawanto Manik accused
Minister Soewandi of favoring business conglomerates over small-
time traders.

The ban, he said, would affect millions of used clothes
traders.

Ngawanto demanded that the House force Minister Soewandi to
revoke the ban or resign from her post.

Opposition to the ban also had come from legislators and North
Sumatra Governor Rizal Nurdin. - JP