Vendors of pirated VCDs say police's raid was unjust

JAKARTA (JP): Pirated Video Compact Disc (VCD) vendors questioned the police over a raid conducted last Saturday, saying they were being treated unjustly.

Several VCD vendors were in the area to observe the parking lot in front of the Harco electronics building in Glodok where they used to run their business, hoping that they could resume their activities there.

Two of the vendors, Pardede and Siahaan, who only wanted to refer to themselves by their family names, said that the raid was unfair because the police did not take any firm action against those who operated along Jl. Pinangsia and inside the building.

"If the police wanted to raid pirated VCD vendors, why didn't they target the bigger traders and wholesalers who operate at the rear of the Harco building," he said, adding that vendors used to buy new products from the wholesalers.

They lashed out the police for failing to take firm action against those wholesalers who traded the contraband in front of their nose.

The wholesalers of the pirated VCDs were only some 100 meters away from the Glodok Police station.

"We find it strange that only a few days after the raid, many vendors on the other side of the street have resumed selling the VCDs," Pardede said.

"If the police and city officials wanted to clear the street vendors from the parking lot, why did they only raid us, while allowing soft drink and snack vendors to do business here," he said, pointing to vendors inside a police cordon.

The VCD vendors explained that they planned to appoint 10 people to represent the 600 vendors and to talk to the West Jakarta mayor to allow them use the area to sell their products.

"This is a prospective area to sell VCDs. We have buyers here; most of them are working people and selling VCDs is the only job we can do to support our families," he said.

The vendors, Siahaan added, refused the offer of the City Public Order office to occupy a lot next to Lindeteves electronic market building, some 500 meters away from the Harco building, because the location was not exposed to the public and was too small to accommodate them all.

Meanwhile, Martin, one of wholesalers who operates at the rear part of the Harco electronics building said that despite sporadic raids, they would continue to sell pirated VCDs because the goods were easy to obtain and brought them good profits.

"When I get the latest VCDs, I distribute some of them to my friends who own kiosks on Jl. Pinangsia, while the remainder are displayed here," the former employee of PT Freeport Indonesia and Danamon Bank said, without revealing who his suppliers were.

Visitors to the rear part of Harco building will find dozens of VCD wholesalers busily wrapping thousands of pirated discs into individual plastic bags for further distribution to smaller vendors in various parts of the city. (06)