Nama :
Chandra
Kelas : 4ea25
Npm :
11211606
The Jakarta administration’s plan to
legalize the operation of street vendors on sidewalks, in parks and in other
public areas could offer a solution to the thousands of people who make a
living in the informal sector, although failure to manage them will only
exacerbate the traffic disorder they used to create.
Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said Monday the
city government would acknowledge the street businesses so that taxes, which
are currently collected illegally by certain parties, could contribute to city
revenues. In return, street vendors would only have to abide by the existing
regulations. Credit should go to the city administration for its efforts to
find a solution for street vendors, who have frequently fallen prey to
crackdowns and evictions by public order officers (Satpol PP) as their businesses
are deemed illegal. Street vendors have also been blamed for traffic bottlenecks
and endangering pedestrians.
Street vendors indeed need legal
certainty to run their businesses. However, city authorities need to take into
account their tendency to create disorder and ignore the public interest. In
fact, many street vendors feel they hold the right to occupy public facilities
just because they pay a “security fee” to thugs.
It is the job of the authorities to
make sure the street vendors respect the law in exchange for the right to
operate in designated areas. If necessary, street vendors should sign an
agreement to follow the rules of the game drafted by the city administration.
The rules should clearly state “do’s and don’ts” to guide vendors in running
their businesses.
It will be difficult, if not
impossible, to change the bad habits of street vendors, as they have been
ingrained for a long time. Legalizing street vendors is therefore risky, but
better planning will help the city administration manage the drawbacks of this
pro-poor policy.
Another important job for the
administration before it legalizes street vendors will be to determine the
appropriate number of street vendors and to map out the locations that can
accommodate them. Without doing so, the city administration will have no idea
about the scale of their job to accommodate all existing street vendors. Such
data is also important to prevent the number of street vendors, which currently
stands at some 600,000, from ballooning.
Facilitating the informal sector to
run legal businesses has been successfully implemented in a number of cities
like Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. In Hong Kong, for example, street vendors
are allowed to occupy Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok area from noon to midnight.
The street, also known as Ladies Market, has even given a boost to the tourism
industry in the Chinese special region, as foreign tourists can find souvenirs
at affordable prices without having to disrupt the flow of traffic.
Legal certainty for street vendors
would create more jobs and help the Jakarta government address poverty and
unemployment problems. Such a noble initiative, however, should not come at the
cost of sacrificing public order in the capital city.
As street vendors in Jakarta are
often blamed for causing traffic congestions and littering the city, some
foreigners see street vending as
anamazing
culture if the vendors are well organized. “Jakarta has a lot of street
vendors. It’s amazing because people can eat nasi goreng [fried rice] or fried
chicken anywhere. It’s really nice; I can meet local people and try different
food in one area, such as Jl. Sabang [in Central Jakarta],” Reuben Blackie, a
Londoner, said in a public discussion on Monday.
Blackie, an
urban project planner in London who is a volunteer in the Rujak Center for
Urban Studies, said he was very interested in studying public spaces and informal
aspects such as the operation of street vendors in Jakarta.
He told an
International Joint Research Workshop called “Interaction+Intersection: Jakarta
at the Crossroads” at the Tarumanagara University in West Jakarta that small
businesses like street vendors were potential assets to attract tourists.
At the
six-day event, jointly organized by the Rujak Center, Tarumanagara University
and University of Cambridge’s Architecture Department, architecture students
and academics gathered to find the best idea to turn Jakarta’s street level
spaces into a much more pleasant environment for daily interactions and the
city into a much more livable space.
Blackie said
that the operation of street vendors was a culture which was increasing in
cities of other countries. Marrakech of Morocco, for example, had a huge street
food area where tourists can enjoy many delightful choices of food.
Those
cities, he said, were trying to develop the potential of their street food
vendors to attract tourists.However, some other cities controlled the operation
of street vendors very tightly, he said. “In Singapore, for example, many
street vendors are integrated in a neat food court. It’s a good thing if we see
the aspect of food hygiene, but I think it lacks traditional culture” he said.
According to
him, Jakarta has an excellent opportunity to integrate street vendors in public
spaces in order to maintain and promote its culture, attract tourists and
provide economic opportunities for vendors.
He said that
based on his research, vendors operating on Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Jendral
Sudirman in Central Jakarta could meet the demand of market segments like train
commuters, office workers and taxi drivers. But because the spaces were
extremely limited, many vendors had to occupy streets which led to congestions
at pinch points.
“The current
trend is that outdoor public spaces are tightly controlled, making street
vendors excluded,” he said.
Felipe
Hernandez from Cambridge University said in his keynote lecture that street
vendors were part of a city’s landscape and identity.
He suggested that instead of wasting money to keep street vendors away, the Jakarta government should try to gain from them by making them attractive tourism objects. Chairman of the Indonesia Street Vendor Association’s Jakarta branch Hoiza Siregar said recently that the city had about 150,000 street vendors with estimated total sales of Rp 225 billion (US$20.1 million) per day. Out of those vendors, only 32,783 were registered as members of her association.
He suggested that instead of wasting money to keep street vendors away, the Jakarta government should try to gain from them by making them attractive tourism objects. Chairman of the Indonesia Street Vendor Association’s Jakarta branch Hoiza Siregar said recently that the city had about 150,000 street vendors with estimated total sales of Rp 225 billion (US$20.1 million) per day. Out of those vendors, only 32,783 were registered as members of her association.
Street
vendors generally set small profit margins of no more than 20 percent in their
efforts to attract customers, she said.
She said
that most of the street vendors, generally the backbones of their families,
usually chose their jobs after being laid off or dismissed by their employers.
(ian) The street vendors are commonly found in Jakarta and other cities in
developing countries. They are informal sector and an important part of the
economy of the city. The informal sector in Indonesia in 2004 accounted for 64
per cent of the total employment. The proportion of informal sector in urban
areas was even higher during the economic crisis in the late 1990s when the
closure of many manufacturing and service corporations pushed the newly unemployed
into informal sector.
Increasing
informal labor force is a distinctive characteristic of Jakarta and other
cities in Indonesia since sector formal can not accommodate the large number of
labor force. The informal sector is not only associated with the poor people
but also with the middle-class people. Many middle-class people in urban areas
in Jakarta greatly benefit from economic activities carried out outside the
formal sectors.
Despite the
contribution of the street vendors to the economy of the city, the existence of
the street vendors are often seen as eye-sores and undesirable activities.
There were a lot of conflicts between urban authorities who were trying to keep
their cities clean and the street vendors who need space for their activities.
In many cases, the urban authorities forcibly evicted the street vendors in the
name of urban order and cleanliness.
The street
vendors need to play hide and seek with the authorities. In many cases,
they can hide from the authorities by paying illegal levies to the thugs
who regularly trawl the street vendors. The authorities should have known such
illegal levies but they never touch the thugs.
Following is
an excerpt from the Jakarta Post that reported the practice of illegal
levies between thugs and street vendors in Jakarta:
Nurbani (not her real name), who has been a footwear
vendor since 2004, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday (May 2, 2007) that she
was forced to pay Rp 3,000 (US 30 cents) a day and an additional Rp 20,000 (US$
2.20) a month to a group that calls itself the Kebayoran Lama Market
Association. "They use scare tactics like sending drunkards over to
non-compliant traders. As a woman fearing for her safety, I have no choice but
to meet their demands whatever the amount is," she said, adding that the
market authority did nothing to help.
Fruit-seller couple Junaedi and Sriyani, who started
their roadside kiosk in 1982, said they have been paying illegal levies --
which are claimed to be security and cleaning fees -- to the thugs who
regularly trawl the market since they first set up their stall. They pay between
Rp 500 and Rp 1,000 per day.
Daleman, an official from the PD Pasar Jaya city
market authority, said the authority's jurisdiction did not cover the area
where the alleged extortion took place. Azas Tigor Nainggolan, chairman of the
Jakarta Residents' Forum (Fakta), told the Post the extortion was a
well-organized affair. He also alleged the market authority may be involved.
"The police need to intervene and be firm in
arresting thugs, but so far they've been quiet on the matter," he said. A
police officer assigned to the Kebayoran Lama market police post said he was unaware
of any extortion schemes or gangs operating in the area. "As far as I
know, the market is safe and there's nothing to be afraid of," he said
This is only one of many other point of views of the
complexity of managing informal sector in Jakarta. The informal sector plays an
important role in the economy of the city but their existence is often seen as
enemy of the city. Rather than receiving assistance and protection from the
authorities, the informal sectors were exploited and evicted.
We often find problems associated
with street vendors (pedagang kakilima) in many Indonesian cities. Street
vendors do their activities in the sidewalks, city parks, cross walking
bridges, and even in the streets. They are often seen as eye-sores and
undesirable activities. In many cases, authorities forcibly evict street
vendors in the name of urban order and cleanliness. Street vendors often resist
the eviction and demand spaces for their activities. Do street vendors deserve
urban space for their activities? To answer this question, I would like
introduce the concept of urban informality as a framework for understanding
street vendors that occur in urban areas.
The concept of urban informality
started from the dichotomy between the formal sector and the informal sector
discussed in the early 1970s. The informal sector is a very common phenomenon
that occurs in developing countries. The percentage of the informal sector in
Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa and South
Asia ranges between 30-70 percent of the total workforce. In Indonesia,
according to data from the Statistics Central Bureau (BPS) in February 2008,
73.53 million out of 102.05 million (72%) workers worked in the informal
sectors.
Although the discussions have been conducted for more than thirty years, there is no consensus on the exact definition of the informal sector (Maloney, 2004). Understanding of the informal sector is more often associated with the dichotomy between the formal and the informal sectors. The informal sector is often understood from the document issued by the International Labor Organization (1972). The ILO identified at least seven characters that distinguish these two sectors: (1) easy of entry, (2) easy to obtain raw materials, (3) the nature of ownership, (4) the scale of activities, (5) use of manpower and technology, (6) expertise requirements, and (7) deregulation and market competition.
The dichotomy of the formal and informal sectors often ignores the importance of the informal sectors with respect to urban spaces. The informal sectors are often marginalized in the urban spaces, even though the informal sectors account for 70% of the urban employment.
Ananya Roy and Nezar Alsayyad (2004) introduced the concept of informal urban areas as the logic that explains the process of urban transformation. They did not emphasize on the dichotomy of the formal and the informal sectors but on the understanding that the informal sector is parts of the economic structure of society. The urban informality is an urbanization mode that connects various economic activities and space in urban areas. The informality The inis not only a domain for the poor but also important for middle-class population.
Two urban theories, the Chicago School of Urban Sociology and the Los Angeles School of Urban Geography have dominated the discourse of urban development in developing countries, including in Indonesia. Both urban theories are based on phenomenon that occurred in urban cities in the United States. The Chicago School of Urban Sociology, which was developed in the early 1920s explain the development of the urban migration that is controlled by generating ecological patterns, such as invasion, survival, assimilated, adaptation and cooperation. The Los Angeles School of Urban Geography initiated in the late 1990s to explain the development of metropolitan Los Angeles in the postmodern era that emphasizes the importance of the capitalist economic and political globalization of the economy.
The dominance of both urban theories in the discourse of urban development influences the urban spatial planning in developing countries. Planning practices that replicate both urban theories through the dichotomy of developed and developing countries become ubiquitous. This becomes a problem when such a replication is no longer relevant with the unique urban phenomenon in developing countries, such as the informal sector.
Although the discussions have been conducted for more than thirty years, there is no consensus on the exact definition of the informal sector (Maloney, 2004). Understanding of the informal sector is more often associated with the dichotomy between the formal and the informal sectors. The informal sector is often understood from the document issued by the International Labor Organization (1972). The ILO identified at least seven characters that distinguish these two sectors: (1) easy of entry, (2) easy to obtain raw materials, (3) the nature of ownership, (4) the scale of activities, (5) use of manpower and technology, (6) expertise requirements, and (7) deregulation and market competition.
The dichotomy of the formal and informal sectors often ignores the importance of the informal sectors with respect to urban spaces. The informal sectors are often marginalized in the urban spaces, even though the informal sectors account for 70% of the urban employment.
Ananya Roy and Nezar Alsayyad (2004) introduced the concept of informal urban areas as the logic that explains the process of urban transformation. They did not emphasize on the dichotomy of the formal and the informal sectors but on the understanding that the informal sector is parts of the economic structure of society. The urban informality is an urbanization mode that connects various economic activities and space in urban areas. The informality The inis not only a domain for the poor but also important for middle-class population.
Two urban theories, the Chicago School of Urban Sociology and the Los Angeles School of Urban Geography have dominated the discourse of urban development in developing countries, including in Indonesia. Both urban theories are based on phenomenon that occurred in urban cities in the United States. The Chicago School of Urban Sociology, which was developed in the early 1920s explain the development of the urban migration that is controlled by generating ecological patterns, such as invasion, survival, assimilated, adaptation and cooperation. The Los Angeles School of Urban Geography initiated in the late 1990s to explain the development of metropolitan Los Angeles in the postmodern era that emphasizes the importance of the capitalist economic and political globalization of the economy.
The dominance of both urban theories in the discourse of urban development influences the urban spatial planning in developing countries. Planning practices that replicate both urban theories through the dichotomy of developed and developing countries become ubiquitous. This becomes a problem when such a replication is no longer relevant with the unique urban phenomenon in developing countries, such as the informal sector.
The problems that arise in
connection with street vendors is mostly caused by the lack of urban spaces for
street vendors. The urban spatial planning that is not based on the
understanding of urban informality concept will tend to ignore the demand for
spaces to accommodate the informal sector, including street vendors. In
addition, the dominance of the Chicago and Los Angeles Schools in the practice
of urban planning in Indonesia has contributed to the lack of spaces for the
informal sectors in urban areas. The spaces in urban areas are dominated by the
urban sectors that have high economic value and the spaces for the informal
sectors are marginalized.
The application of the concept of
urban informality in understanding the phenomenon of street vendors will change
our perspective on the existence of street vendors in urban areas. The street
vendors are not the groups failed to enter the economic system in urban areas.
They are one of the modes in the urban transformation that cannot be separated
from the urban economy. They are one component of the urban economy that will
benefit urban development.
The phenomenon of street vendors in Indonesian cities should be interpreted in the context of urban transformation. The application of the concept of urban informality in the practice of urban planning will allocate more urban spaces for the street vendors and integrate it with the formal sectors. The practice of urban planning in Indonesia also should not replicate the Chicago and Los Angeles schools, but modify them and take into account the unique urban phenomenon including the informal sector. The informal sectors, including street vendors, deserve more urban spaces to accommodate their activities that are parts of the urban economic system. The new spatial planning law 26/2007 has stipulated the importance of the informal sector in urban areas, but the implementation of this new law is not fully enforced yet. The full enforcement of the new spatial planning law and the understanding of the urban informality concept are needed to ensure the availability of urban spaces for the street vendors.
The phenomenon of street vendors in Indonesian cities should be interpreted in the context of urban transformation. The application of the concept of urban informality in the practice of urban planning will allocate more urban spaces for the street vendors and integrate it with the formal sectors. The practice of urban planning in Indonesia also should not replicate the Chicago and Los Angeles schools, but modify them and take into account the unique urban phenomenon including the informal sector. The informal sectors, including street vendors, deserve more urban spaces to accommodate their activities that are parts of the urban economic system. The new spatial planning law 26/2007 has stipulated the importance of the informal sector in urban areas, but the implementation of this new law is not fully enforced yet. The full enforcement of the new spatial planning law and the understanding of the urban informality concept are needed to ensure the availability of urban spaces for the street vendors.
