Kliwon Market Merchants Ask The Governor To Cancel The Regulation Regarding Closing On The Weekend

JAKARTA - Kliwon Market Merchants in Kudus Regency, Central Java, who are members of the Kliwon Market Traders Association (HPPK) asked regional heads to review their policy of closing traditional markets for two days on the weekend.

The reason is that the sales transactions on the weekend so far are bigger than the previous days.

"We beg to the policymakers, either the Governor or the Regent to review their policies or cancel the plan to close the market on February 6-7, 2021", said Kliwon Market Trader Association (HPPK) Chairman Sulistiyanto in Kudus, reported by Antara, Thursday, February 4.

He ensured that the merchants would lose money if they really had to take two days off on the weekend because the current trend of transactions is increasing as Ramadhan approaches.

The weekends can also be referred to as the harvest time for merchants to get bigger transactions because there are usually lots of visits to the market.

Meanwhile, during the COVID-19 pandemic, sales transactions of merchants tended to decline. The current positive sales trend would certainly like to continue without neglecting health protocols.

Based on a limited meeting, the HPPK Kudus management objected to the closure of traditional markets, including Kliwon Market, in the context of the "Central Java Stays At Home" (Jateng Di Rumah Saja) movement.

It is believed that this will disrupt the wheels of the economy not only from merchants, but also with the wages of employees, suppliers, depositors, and other market players, such as parking attendants, porters, pedicab drivers, and motorcycle taxi services.

If the goal of a two-day off is to reduce COVID-19 cases, he said, the merchants have also tried to comply with health protocols. Even implementing the Independent Community Security Forces independently.

"We market players are able to implement tightened prokes in the traditional market environment and are able to hold a self-help task force for enforcement of prokes in traditional markets", he said.

Previously, the Kudus Regency Government supported the "Central Java Stays at home" (Jateng Di Rumah Saja) movement by closing traditional markets and shopping centers as well as street vendors for two days on weekends on Saturdays and Sundays to suppress COVID-19 cases while still considering local wisdom.

This is because there are several large factories in Kudus Regency that still have activities on Saturdays and there are companies whose production machines have to operate 24 hours.