Vendors allowed to use Monas park

Vendors allowed to use Monas park

JAKARTA (JP): Street vendors are allowed to use the National Monument (Monas) park as their business sites during the fasting month of Ramadhan as of today.

Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi said yesterday that 200 street vendors can operate at the western side of Monas from today until the end of Ramadhan.

Kahfi said the mayoralty has also allotted two other locations for street vendors; an area beside Istiqlal Mosque and another beside the nearby Catholic cathedral. Each site can be used by 200 traders.

"The street vendors are allowed to sell their merchandise in those locations from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. every day during Ramadhan," he said.

The decision was in response to a councilor's suggestion to use the National Monument (Monas) park as a center for street vendors.

Hasan Dasy, a councilor from the City Council's Commission B for economic affairs, urged the city administration to provide special locations for street vendors during Ramadhan. He proposed Monas as the location.

Hasan said that by providing space in Monas for the traders during Ramadhan, the city administration would not have to chase them away from unauthorized spots.

He also said the city administration should help the traders obtain appropriate places because they had been exploited by certain officials of PD Pasar Jaya to get temporary places in the markets.

He alleged that street vendors each had to make Rp 500,000 (US$232.55) payoffs for business sites in a marketplace last year.

Registration

To avoid possible "extortion" by officials, the Central Jakarta mayoralty formed a special team to list vendors who want to conduct business at the designated locations during Ramadhan.

Kahfi said that street vendors can register with the team at the mayoralty office to get a spot in those locations.

He said the street vendors must pay for the business sites, but he refused to say how much a street vendor would pay for the space.

"It's not expensive. But they also have to pay sanitary fees which range from Rp 500 to Rp 1,500 per person every day," he said.

The fee is important to fund the cleanliness of the park after the market is closed, he said.

Meanwhile, the West Jakarta mayoralty is also providing locations for street vendors during Ramadhan, in the front yard of Fatahillah museum and on Jl. Rute D, Cengkareng.

Major Sutardjianto said that both locations can accommodate about 400 street vendors.

"They are allowed to open their businesses every day and there is no time limit, they can trade there all day long," he said.

Unlike the Central Jakarta mayoralty which charges the traders for the sites, Sutardjianto said his office will not charge the vendors anything.

"They will have to pay the sanitary fee only," he said.(yns)