Blok G a ghost town despite big plans

JAKARTA. As the end of the rent-free period neared Friday, and the city started a renovation project to salvage the place, most of the relocated street vendors had jumped ship from the troubled Tanah Abang Blok G.

The majority of the more than 400 kiosks have closed over the last three months due to a lack of customers.

The city administration evicted street vendors from Jl. Kebon Jati, the road separating Blok G and the busier blocks A, B and F, last August in an attempt to clean up the road and reduce traffic congestion.

Yeni, a bag trader on the third floor, said many vendors had moved to Jl. Jatibaru, a small road across from Blok G, where customers preferred to shop.

Because no one had bought her bags for the last three months, she sold drinks to compensate for the decline in earnings, she said.

Another vendor, Mar, told The Jakarta Post that no customers had bought any of her clothes this month. “My only buyers are my fellow traders on the third floor,” she said with a bitter laugh.

Vendors Yoga and Indra suggested that the market operator, city-owned PD Pasar Jaya, improve the building.

Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said on Monday that the city administration had planned several strategies for Blok G.

“We will install escalators at Blok G and construct bridges to connect all the Tanah Abang market buildings, including Blok G,” he said.

Ahok said the city administration, in cooperation with train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), would build a bridge that connected Blok G with Tanah Abang Station.

Regarding the city administration’s plan to build the facilities, Indra said he hoped the rent-free
period would be extended.

“I do not mind how much the rent is [after the extended free-rent period], as long as I have customers,” he said.

Dian Tri Irawaty, a Rujak Urban Studies Center researcher, told the Post that to reinvigorate business at Blok G, all elements of society must be involved, including the administration, the community and the
vendors.

She said that one of the main challenges was the accommodation of the mind-set of the vendors, who only thought about how to earn money each day.

To accommodate this, for example, Pasar Jaya should rearrange the vendors so that the flow of customers would not be centralized on a particular floor, she said.

The rearrangement should encourage customers to go to the top floor, she said, adding vendors who sold the most wanted items should be on the top floor.

Dian also said it would have been better if the vendors had been involved in the market’s design process, as their interests would have been accommodated.

The city administration should also be consistent in disciplining vendors selling goods on the streets.

“Jokowi has to be strict. Once he forbids vendors from trading on the streets, he must not waver,”
Dian said.

Ahok said violators could be fined on the spot.