Village chief lead 55 protesting traders

Village chief lead 55 protesting traders

BEKASI, West Java (JP): Kali Baru village chief Antartika S.W.
led a delegation of 55 traders who went to the Bekasi mayoralty
yesterday to protest the planned demolition of their kiosks.

The delegation, representing 160 traders operating kiosks
under an overpass in Kali Baru, West Bekasi, demanded that the
mayor suspend the demolition plan.

"The mayoralty has ordered the traders to vacate and dismantle
the kiosks because the site will be used for a town park," the
mayoralty public relations chief, Padlin Kamal, said yesterday.

Padlin said the mayoralty had issued three warning letters to
the village community organization (LKMD) on Sept.3, Sept. 20 and
Oct.14. The organization regulates the kiosks and receives a fee
from kiosk owners.

"The mayoralty, in its last warning letter, gave the traders
24 hours to vacate the sites because it had already issued three
warning letters to the organization regarding demolition," Padlin
said.

A trader said yesterday that each kiosk owner pays Rp 1,000
(43 US cents) a day to the organization, meaning that the
organization enjoyed Rp 4.8 million a month from the 160 traders.

The organization's chairman Abdul Hadi and secretary Zainal
Arifin joined the protest.

Four traders from the delegation, Mamiek Slamet, Yon Marlen
Napitupulu, Ramli Siregar and S. Siantar, met the mayor
yesterday.

Padlin quoted the four traders as saying that they had not
received any warning letters on the kiosks' demolition from the
organization.

Padlin said the organization could legally organize the kiosks
and collect fees because it had been appointed by the community.

"The local administration is not in charge of taking fees from
traders running businesses more than 500 meters away from
existing shopping centers," Padlin said. (kod)