DIY Local Government Affirms Good-Intentioned Recollation, Wants To Glorify Malioboro Street Vendors

YOGYAKARTA - The Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta said that the plan to relocate Kali Lima traders (PKL) in the Malioboro area, Yogyakarta at the end of January 2022 as an effort to glorify business actors in order to get a more representative place.

"We, the local government, glorify them, how to provide a legal and representative space," said Head of the DIY Cooperatives and SMEs (KUKM) Office Srie Nurkyatsiwi as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, January 11.

Siwi, Srie Nurkyatsiwi's nickname, explained that as many as 1,700 street vendors who opened stalls on the west and east sides of Malioboro would be relocated to the two locations that had been prepared.

The first location is at the Indra Cinema Building, Ngupasan, Gondomanan, Yogyakarta City and the second location occupies the former DIY Tourism Office Building. Both are still in the Malioboro area.

"The former tourism (building) is temporary while the regional government prepares a permanent location," said Siwi.

He hopes that the relocation will not be interpreted as an effort to expel, but instead will provide security and trading comfort for street vendors.

"Preparing a place, space, no retribution, rent for a certain time is a form of affirmation from the local government," said Siwi.

In addition to realizing the convenience of traders, Siwi said that the relocation was aimed at managing the Malioboro area as part of the Yogyakarta Regional Government's efforts to propose the DIY philosophy axis area as an intangible cultural heritage to UNESCO.

"There must be resistance, but this process continues," said Siwi.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairperson of the DIY DPRD, Huda Tri Yudiana, stated that the DIY DPRD supports the relocation process with the aim of structuring the Malioboro area.

With the Malioboro area arranged so as to attract more visitors, he is sure the turnover of street vendors in the area will increase.

Before the relocation was carried out, Huda asked the DIY Regional Government to open a communication room while socializing in detail the concept of relocation and structuring the area.

He considered it reasonable that some street vendors who earn a living in the area are still worried that their turnover will decrease because they have not received detailed information.

"Up to the concept of where PKL A can be located, what the arrangement of the location is, the capacity, and how the promotion will be conveyed in detail and carefully," said the politician from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

A number of street vendors in the Malioboro area visited the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Yogyakarta) on Tuesday, January 11 to obtain advocacy assistance on the relocation plan.

One of the street vendors in Malioboro, Supriyanti, admitted that she did not reject the relocation plan but hoped that there would be transparency from the government and a delay in the relocation time.

According to him, until now there has been no clarity from the local government regarding the time of relocation and only knows information about the planned time of relocation from social media.

In addition to the reasons for the readiness of the stalls, the street vendors reasoned that the delay was needed because traders were worried that their turnover would decrease if they had to move to a new location. "Moreover, we are really affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Supriyanti.