Soon after he took office, one of the most controversial decisions Governor Anies Baswedan made was his call to close off crowded Jalan Jatibaru in Tanah Abang for several hours every day to allow merchants to sell their goods on the street. The move was widely panned for causing even more disorder into the already chaotic neighborhood, and now Anies could face serious sanctions if he doesn’t rectify the situation.
Yesterday, Indonesia’s Ombudsman office ruled that Anies’ administration committed four counts of maladministration over the road closure, namely for incompetence, violation of procedures, ignoring the law and violating the law. All of them are related to Jalan Jatibaru being legally designated as a street for vehicles, not a marketplace.
The Ombudsman office, through an official recommendation to the Home Affairs Ministry, gave Anies’ administration 60 days to return the street to its intended function and come up with a new plan to manage the street vendors in the area.
According to Home Affairs Ministry Regional Autonomy Director General Sumarsono, Anies’ failure to do so could see him receive heavy administrative sanctions, starting with written warnings from the ministry.
“[If ignored] then there is temporary suspension for 3 months and if still ignored, then there’s permanent termination,” Sumarsono said, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
Anies has not yet pledged to carry out Ombudsman’s recommendations, saying that he will study them first before making a decision.
Before Anies enforced the street closure policy in Tanah Abang, the Jakarta Ombudsman office found evidence that the area’s thugs paid off Satpol PP (Public Order Agency) officers, who were tasked with knocking back vendors encroaching onto the streets, to turn a blind eye. As a result of their finding and the ever-escalating chaos in Tanah Abang, Anies followed Satpol PP’s recommendation to close Jalan Jatibaru off to vehicles in order to accommodate street vendors during certain hours of the day.
