Vendors' time limited at Monas
Vendors' time limited at Monas
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
More than 1,300 street vendors at the National Monument
(Monas) Park, most of whom operate on Saturdays and Sundays, will
be evicted as soon as the Central Jakarta park is fenced off, an
official said on Tuesday.
"We can only provide space for some 600 street vendors. We
cannot accommodate all the (1,300) vendors," Central Jakarta
Deputy Mayor Sabungan Parlindungan said at a hearing with the
City Council.
The hearing was also attended by councillors from the
council's Commission B for economic affairs and Commission D for
development affairs as well as dozens of street vendors.
Sabungan said 600 vendors who operate daily at Monas would be
given space on an open plot near the park's southern parking lot.
He did not explain whether the mayoralty would impose taxes on
the vendors, most of whom sell food and beverages.
It is common knowledge that the vendors usually pay fees to
mayoralty officials in order to be allowed to operate in the
park.
During the meeting, the vendors, who were accompanied by
activist Edi Saidi from the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), demanded
to be allowed to continue operating in Monas.
"We asked the mayoralty to allow all the traders to operate
along the sidewalks or near the pond in the western part of the
park," Edi told reporters.
Councillor Dani Anwar urged the mayoralty to designate a
location in the park for the vendors so that they could be
managed properly.
"Before the mayoralty can give them new jobs, the vendors
should be accommodated," Dani of the Justice Party said.
The installment of a Rp 9 billion, three-meter-high fence
around the park is aimed at preventing vendors from operating in
Monas.
Currently, the vendors sell their wares, especially on
Saturdays and Sundays, in almost all parts of the park, the
northern and southern parts of which face the presidential palace
and City Hall respectively.
Many feel that the aim of the fence around the park is to
deter protesters. Since the downfall of president Soeharto, the
park has become a popular site to stage demonstrations.
The city administration has been criticized for reducing
public space with the installment of fence.
The planned eviction of street vendors in Monas adds to a long
list of victims of Sutiyoso's hard policy against poor people in
the city.
Last week, thousands of street vendors were evicted from
Pulogadung and Kampung Rambutan bus terminals in East Jakarta.
Sutiyoso, who was reelected for a second term earlier this
month, announced that the city planned to expel illegal migrants
in an effort to curb crowding in the capital.