Klewer market to have total renovation, says mayor

SURAKARTA. Surakarta mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo has said the administration will carry out a total renovation of Klewer market building, in line with directives from Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, who personally visited the market after it caught fire on Saturday.

Considering the market’s vast area and that many of its kiosks need to be rebuilt, however, the Surakarta mayor admitted that he was not sure that the city regional budget (APBD) would be sufficient to cover the cost of renovation.

“We will ask the central government to help because it is impossible for us to fully cover the renovation from our own budget,” Rudy said on Monday.

During his visit on Sunday evening, Ganjar said that it would likely be difficult for Klewer market to be partially renovated after it burned for around 30 hours from Saturday evening. This was because parts of the market building had burned down or collapsed, he said.

Ganjar said the Central Java administration was ready to help cover the cost of both the Klewer market renovation and the development of a temporary market. In the case that it was impossible for the administration to cover this from the provincial budget, Ganjar said he was also ready to help discuss it during the deliberation of the Revised State Budget (APBN-P) in February 2015.

“This building cannot be repaired anymore and needs total renovation. For the time being, what we need to think about is how all the vendors can start their activities again and developing a temporary market,” said Ganjar.

The governor further said it was time for Klewer market vendors to begin to insure their merchandise. Currently, only 10 percent of the vendors’ kiosks were protected by insurance schemes.

The two-storey market was built by Surakarta’s famed Sultan Pakubuwono X and is located on a 500-by-1,500-meter plot of land. Klewer market could accommodate 2,320 kiosks and 1,532 vendors, plus a further 765 casual vendors.

To accommodate all of the vendors, Surakarta Market Management Agency head Subagyo said the temporary market should be built on at least 3-4 hectares of land.

“The vendors have asked us to build a temporary market near the current site, with several alternative locations suggested, such as Alun-alun Utara of Surakarta Palace or near Vastenburg Fort,” said Subagyo. (Kusumasari Ayuningtyas)