TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Regional Representative Council's Government Commission member, Gembong Warsono, said that the existence of a skybridge is not the answer to the problem of street vendors (PKL) in Tanah Abang. This, he said, was evidenced by the conflict that arose during an operation to discipline the traders on Jatibaru Raya's sidewalk.

Gembong said the Jakarta Government does not have accurate data on the number of traders on the Jatibaru Raya sidewalk. Therefore, traders who do not have a place on the skybridge will return to the sidewalk.

"In the end, everything turned into chaos and conflicts arise," he said on Thursday, January 17.

The Central Jakarta Satpol PP tasked ten of its members to drive away street vendors from the sidewalk. However, the seller refused and provoked other traders to fight Satpol PP officers.

Read: Skybridge, the Solution to Tanah Abang`s Persistent Congestion

"We are outnumbered," Satpol PP's Chief of Civil Servants and Enforcement Investigators Section, Santoso, said.

A seller said they refused to leave their spot because they already moved to behind the guiding block for the visually impaired. Some vendors, he said, moved their goods to shops behind the sidewalk.

"But they too our goods, and so everyone got mad," he said.

He also said that most of the vendors had paid "rent money" to local residents to "secure" their business. Therefore, they refused to be evicted by the Satpol PP.

The Tanah Abang Skybridge was tested on December 10. The bridge that connects Tanah Abang Station with Block G of Tanah Abang Market can only accommodate 446 sellers, when in fact there are 650 street vendors operating at the sidewalk near the train station.

Central Jakarta deputy mayor Irwandi said the remaining 149 street vendors would be relocated to Block F at Tanah Abang Market. The government is looking for a place for the other 55 sellers.

However, the 149 sellers refused to sell at the locations determined by the government. They chose to return to the sidewalk of Jatibaru Street.

IMAM HAMDI | ADAM PRIREZA | JULNIS FIRMANSYAH