Editorial: Protecting the weak

Retail businesses in the capital have grown beyond expectation as evidenced by the mushrooming mini-markets and their adverse impacts on vendors in traditional markets and small shops operating in the neighborhoods.
The number of mini-markets has ironically jumped to 1,115 now, more than double the November 2006 number of 525 when then Governor Sutiyoso issued an instruction on a moratorium for mini-market development in Jakarta.
The data, recently revealed by the city secretary assistant for economic affairs Hasan Basri Saleh, is evidence of the ineffectiveness of the gubernatorial instruction, which is aimed at protecting small-scale traders. More than that, it demonstrates blatant violations of the regulation, which occurred on purpose or at least by omission.
For more than four years small and micro-business players in the capital have been deprived of the protection they legitimately deserve merely because of the government’s failure to enforce the regulation.
Governor Fauzi Bowo, who was Sutiyoso’s deputy when the instruction was enacted, has reacted angrily to the speedy growth of the “illegal” mini-markets. He also threatened to close down the mini-markets, but the tough measure could trigger protracted legal disputes as investors of the mini-markets may have obtained their business licenses in accordance with the rules.
Fauzi’s response is too late and should beg the question as to where he had been when his subordinates were processing and validating the license for the mini-markets over the last four years.
As the then deputy governor and the current governor, Fauzi should be aware of the regulation and has no excuse for failing to enforce it.
It is simply too naïve to assume the city administration has overlooked the fast growing mini-markets that dot the roadsides and neighborhoods across the capital. The city government is ubiquitous as its span of command reaches the sub-district level, so there is no way that it had failed to monitor the development of minimarkets.
To make matters worse, the establishment of the new mini-markets after the enactment of the 2006 gubernatorial instruction turns out to go against City Bylaw No. 2/2002 on city markets.
According to the bylaw, mini-markets measuring between 100 to 200 square meters could only be located at least 500 meters away from traditional markets and operate from between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. The ordinance, however, has been widely violated as Jakartans can easily find minimarkets operating near traditional markets open 24 hours a day.
We believe that small and micro-traders deserve protection, as happens even in the most liberal economies, mostly because they are weak, both financially and managerially. Many of them run such businesses as a last resort to survive after losing jobs following the impacts of the global financial crises in the late 1990s and 2008.
Therefore, it is surely unfair for small and micro-entrepreneurs to have to compete with retailers who are supported by strong financial resources and better management. It is high time for Governor Fauzi to show his empathy for the weak. History has shown the small and micro-enterprises survived the economic turbulence and helped the country’s economy regain its footing.
Moves are underway for amendment of the existing regulation on mini-markets, as stated by City Secretary Padjar Pandjaitan, which if materialized would pave the way for adjustments to legalize the “illegal” mini-markets at the expense of small traders.