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