Vendors scramble for temporary shelter

Vendors scramble for temporary shelter

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The market was as crowded as usual, but not with buyers.
Tired faces, bitter smiles and sighs replaced the usual chit-
chat between traders and customers making transactions at the
Melawai market in Blok M, South Jakarta on Monday morning.

By afternoon, more than 1,500 vendors could only stare blankly
as fire took over the two buildings, where they used to make a
living.

"We've been evicted by fire," said Amris A.M, a tailor who
normally occupied a 10-square-meter kiosk at the market's
Building I. He was "fortunate" enough to have been able to save
his two old sewing machines and a locker filled with half-
finished clothes.

Two steps away from where Amris was sitting, a young girl
stood as tears welled up in her eyes. "Today I am not working,
neither tomorrow nor the days after," said Yanti bitterly. She
worked at a clothing shop on the first floor of the same
building.

At least 3,000 traders -- and probably 2,000 street vendors --
in the area will have to find another place to work as the
previously thriving four-story buildings at the market were
transformed into black concrete skeletons in a matter of hours.

Separately, city market operator PD Pasar Jaya director
Prabowo Soenirman said that the traders would be given temporary
shelter elsewhere. "But we do not know the exact location," he
added.

Prabowo explained that the company would not renovate the
burned out buildings as it planned to build a mall, a hotel and
an apartment block on the site. "But, don't start thinking that
we intentionally burned the buildings. It was just a
coincidence," he said.

In February 2003, fire also burned down a large portion of
Tanah Abang textile market. Two years later, a 14-story trade
center stands on the site.

Amris, who is also an official from Melawai trader's
association, explained that traders had been aware of the plan
and basically did not mind.

"We have less and less customers, anyway, since street vendors
started blocking the parking lot. But, we need fair
compensation," he said. "I do not know whether we will still have
a solid bargaining position after the fire."

The tailor, who started working at the market in 1984,
explained that the building permit he was working on would expire
in 2007. "The building permit where the fire first started would
expire in 2011," he added.

Meanwhile, permits of two other neighboring buildings spared
by the fire had long expired, Amris said. PD Pasar Jaya director
Prabowo confirmed Amris' explanation.

Several other traders said that they were also aware of the
new blueprint of the area. They reported that despite no
additional service from the market operator, their monthly fees
had been more than doubled since 2003.

The Blok M area has emerged as a commercial and entertainment
center since the market was built in the 1970s. It has
practically become a 24-hour trading hub serving customers with a
variety of commodities ranging from cakes to garments.(003)