Street vendor relocation back to square one
Bambang Nurbianto ;
A
staff writer at The Jakarta Post
|
JAKARTA
POST, 01 Februari 2014
|
It seems
the Jakarta administration’s attempts to relocate street vendors — one of the
landmark programs of Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo — is facing a serious
challenge, if not a setback, now that many of the traders have reclaimed the
sidewalks from pedestrians.
Hopefully,
Jokowi, former mayor of the Central Java city of Surakarta, more commonly
known as Solo, will not give up his bid to emulate the efforts he took
forward in his hometown, where he successfully resettled thousands of street
vendors and earned international recognition years later. The governor should
renew his efforts to make the program a success.
In
Jakarta, the high profile relocation started from the hustling and bustling
Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta last September when the administration
herded about 900 street vendors into the Blok G cluster of the market.
Jokowi’s
initial success was widely appreciated not only by pedestrians, but also road
users who cherished the improved traffic in the Tanah Abang area. Then the
relocation focus shifted to other parts of the city.
Regrettably,
however, many of the street vendors were uncomfortable with their new places
and returned to familiar locations. Their justification for doing so was the
low number of visitors, which hit their businesses.
The
return of street vendors to the sidewalks of Jl. Palmerah Barat, West
Jakarta, has proved to be another lesson for the city administration.
The
relocation took place on Sept. 27 last year. That day, all street vendors,
along with their tents and carts, were cleared from the sidewalks. For
several days following the clearance, Public Order Agency (Satpol PP)
officers stood guard to prevent the vendors from returning. As time went by,
the officers resorted to parking their cars near the market without showing
up. They thought it was enough to scare off the street traders, but they were
wrong.
In the
absence of the Satpol PP officers, several vendors reopened their street
business. One fruit vendor, for example, resumed trading next to the fence of
Palmerah market a few days after the relocation. Having been reprimanded, she
moved a step closer to the roadside in front of the market until finally she
reclaimed her old territory at the expense of pedestrians. Many other vendors
followed suit and succeeded.
The
relocation was purely for the good of the public and for the sake of law
enforcement, without ill intent to negatively affect the business of the
street vendors.
The city
administration did help former street vendors relocated in Blok G of Tanah
Abang sell their goods. The fact that the vendors abandoned their new places
should cast doubt on whether the government has done enough to assist the
micro entrepreneurs. Or perhaps it is impossible to relocate the street
vendors.
Of course, Solo is easier to manage than
Jakarta. There are only about 7,000 vendors in the sultanate city, as against
100,000 in Jakarta, according to the Jakarta Cooperatives and Medium, Small
and Micro Enterprises Agency.
The
problem facing Jakarta is that the city administration has not explored all
opportunities to sustain the relocation program. In Palmerah for example,
another market located a few hundred meters from the traditional market is in
place to keep vendors from trading on the sidewalk.
Known as
pasar pisang (banana market) because the traders mostly sell bananas, the
two-story market has failed to attract the street vendors to set up shop. The
second floor of the market is nearly empty. A food vendor said she had been
relocated to the market from sidewalk but returned to the street after a few
days as she lost many customers.
The
banana market stands a great chance of accommodating more street vendors,
provided there are extra efforts, such as a makeover of the front part of the
building just to make it more attractive to potential customers. More
importantly, the city administration may consider changing the market into a
fruit center, which Jakarta lacks. This specialty can help traders develop
their business.
Street
vendor relocation is not merely intended to restore pedestrian rights, which
have been long denied. It will also help the local government renovate the
poor condition of most sidewalks across the city.
Better
sidewalks will enable public transportation users to easily change modes of
transport. As seen in many developed
cities, people enjoy walking to nearby bus stops or railway stations, which
has a good impact on their health.
Jokowi
cannot completely address annual flooding and traffic congestion within the
five years of his tenure. However, he must not fail in the street vendor
relocation because it is only a matter of commitment. Of course, Jokowi needs
help from his subordinates to discover possible places to resettle the
vendors.
The
governor is now very busy. Sooner or later he may start to consider running for
the presidency given the various surveys that see him as the most electable
candidate.
But
whatever his future political choices, he is still the Jakarta governor who
is responsible for the resolution of all the city’s problems, as promised
during his election campaign.
If Jokowi fails to impress with his efforts to ease traffic gridlock
and mitigate floods, he stands a good chance of making the street vendor
relocation program his legacy if he does choose to contest the presidential
election. ●
|
