Vendors fail to pay kiosk down payments

JAKARTA: Many vendors who previously had businesses in the Tanah Abang textile market's Block A say they are unable to pay down payments of up to 20 percent of the kiosk price prior to the deadline on July 1.

"We don't have the money to pay down payments of Rp 16 million (US$1,702), or 20 percent of the kiosk price of Rp 80 million," said Siti Nuraidah, one of the vendors, on Monday.

Siti previously had a four-square-meter kiosk in Block A worth Rp 400 million, the permit for which would have expired in November. However, the fire that razed the market on Feb. 19, 2003, forced her to move to Blok F, but she eventually decided to close her kiosk due to lack of customers.

The market operator's area manager, Tasori, said the renovation work was expected to be finished in July 2005. "We hope by the Ramadhan fasting month next year, the vendors will have opened their business." -- Antara