Yogya roads cleared of vendors

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

If you visit Yogyakarta and travel along Jl. Gejayan, particularly passing Jogjakarta Plaza Hotel in the south to Selokan Mataram drainage system in the north, you may be surprised by the vacant roadsides in the evenings.

The roadsides used to be completely occupied by dozens of tents in which street vendors sold food, but these days the roadsides are empty.

The sidewalks along both sides of the street are under construction, leaving only around one meter along the street available, which is too narrow for anyone to set up an eatery.

At the southern end of the street, where most of the vendors previously conducted business, numerous signboards and posters hang on the walls or fences along the street advising the public that the vendors have moved.

A number of signs and banners erected by the Sleman administration are also present. Some announce that no business activities are allowed along the roadside, others advise that the street vendors have moved to Resto Mrican on the east of the nearby Sanata Dharma University.

"This is part of the Sleman government's program to relocate PKL (roadside vendors) in a bid to clear all the main streets in the region of street vendors. Why, because the streets are for pedestrians and vehicles, not a place to conduct business," Sleman Regent Ibnu Subiyanto said.

As a consequence, the local government feels obliged to provide business space in a number of areas to accommodate the evicted street vendors.

Resto Mrican is one of 25 planned relocation sites to be built over four years.

"We plan to rid all the main streets of PKL within four years," said Ibnu, adding that Sleman had allocated a Rp 1.2 billion budget this year to build three sites at which to relocate vendors. The sites will be in Mrican, Manggung and Klebengan.

Ibnu said his administration needed about Rp 8 billion to build all the planned relocation sites. Yet, hopefully, funding will start rolling in next year, as the relocated vendors are expected to pay rent.

In the long run, the project will be another source of income for the local government, or for whoever manages the property.

"This is indeed no small investment. Yet, for us, it's not about how much return we can get from the investment. Rather, it's about how much we can save in the future because of the project," Ibnu said.

Ibnu said that the street vendors had cost the administration a great deal of money, such as by clogging up the drainage system along Jl. Colombo which necessitated the spending of Rp 590 million every two years to clean them.

"Just imagine how much we can save in the future if we can free the streets from PKL, or how expensive it would be if the government did nothing. In short, what we are doing through this relocation program is putting an end to unnecessary government spending," Ibnu said.

To ensure that the roadsides remain clear of street vendors, the local government plans to issue a bylaw prohibiting vendors setting up business along the main streets.

"The main problem that most cities in the country face in managing street vendors is that no regulation protecting main streets from business activities has ever been made. We plan to issue a regulation this year," said Ibnu, underlying that no one has the right to use the street for business activities.

"So, you may say that this relocation program is part of the preparation for the regulation on the protection of public streets," he added.

Resto Mrican, which is the first relocation project to be officially launched this month, is located east of Sanata Dharma University in Mrican.

A little off from the main street, it is 500 meters east of the area where the street vendors previously conducted business on the sidewalk across from Jogjakarta Plaza Hotel.

Able to accommodate the 32 street vendors evicted from Jl. Gejayan, it has a spacious parking area and a common eating area.

"We are grateful to be provided with this fine facility even though our income has significantly dropped since we moved here a month ago. But I'm quite sure that as time goes by, our earnings will return to normal," Rudi, 22, a vendor selling dishes of Pekalongan, told The Jakarta Post.

Rudi and his parents used to sell food near Selokan Mataram and moved to the new site after being evicted. Previously, said Rudi, they could earn up to Rp 300,000 a night. Yet, since moving to Resto Mrican, they earn only Rp 70,000 at the most. Other vendors sometimes earned nothing, prompting them to close temporarily and wait until the site is officially opened in the hope that more customers will then come.

"We realize it takes time to lure back our old customers. We have left a note at our old place, but some customers said it took them three days to find this place," said Rudi, adding that so far only eight of the 32 vendors had opened business at the new location.

A drop in earnings has always been a problem in relocation programs. Ibnu, however, expressed confidence that with a little creativity, such as live entertainment, the place would eventually succeed in attracting more customers. The spacious front yard at the site, according to him, was more than enough to accommodate such activities.

"They need not worry about it. The local government will gladly help them attract more customers," Ibnu asserted.