Vendors evicted from Pulogadung

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

About 1,000 street vendors were forcibly evicted from in and around the Pulo Gadung bus terminal in an operation involving around 2,200 officers from the East Jakarta public order agency, the police and the district military command on Sunday.

"The officers have evicted about 1,000 street vendors in and around the bus terminal," said City transportation agency chief, Rustam Effendy, who witnessed the operation on Sunday morning.

The officers, who started the eviction at 5:30 a.m., demolished all of the vendors' stalls and pushcarts in and around the bus station on Jl. Bekasi Timur and Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan.

Unlike previous forced evictions in the area and in other areas of the city, the eviction proceeded peacefully without any resistance from the vendors or local residents.

Rustam said they had told the vendors of their plans prior to the operation so they were ready to accept and anticipate the reality.

"We evicted the vendors because they are the main cause of traffic jams around the bus terminal. Their presence has also made it dirty and increased crime," said Rustam.

Jumroni, 30, a food stall owner outside the bus terminal, said that he managed to remove his belongings before the officers started demolishing his stall.

"But I don't know where I can open my business tomorrow. Maybe I'll find a place a bit further away from the terminal," he told Antara on Sunday.

Rustam said a number of officers from the public order agency, civilian guards and police would guard the area to prevent the vendors from reopening their businesses in the area.

"We'll also install space dividers in the area to prevent the vendors from rebuilding their stalls or installing their pushcarts," he said.