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Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo defended on Wednesday a decision to lift a ban on the issuance of permits for new minimarkets.

He said the decision was legal, but sought to soothes fears that it would lead to an explosion in the number of minimarkets.

“Both the legislators and the executives agreed on the decision,” Fauzi said. He said the Trade Ministry had also signed off on the decision.

A 2006 gubernatorial instruction put a stay on new permits. It was revoked by another instruction, issued on Jan. 12.

“I think that if it is a decision that has been made, then just follow it up,” Fauzi said.

Hasan Basri Saleh, assistant to the Jakarta regional secretary for economy and administration, said the decision had been communicated to all five mayors.

“The issuance of permits for new minimarkets falls under the authority of the mayors,” he said.

He said the decision to revoke the freeze on new minimarket permits had been recommended by a special committee of the Jakarta Legislative Council.

Adi Ariantara, the head of the economic bureau of the city administration, confirmed that all the mayors and their top officials had been informed of decision and were ready to implement it.

“We stress that the revocation of the stay on permits for new minimarkets does not mean that the DKI government is now just throwing open the door for minimarket entrepreneurs,” Adi said.

He said that restrictions based on a 2002 regional regulation still applied.

The regulations stipulate that modern markets of up to 200 square meters should be located at least 500 meters from traditional markets.

Modern markets with surface areas of between 200 and 1,000 square meters should be at least a kilometer away from traditional markets.

The regulation also says that supermarkets and hypermarts must be at least 2.5 kilometers from any traditional market.

“If regional regulation No. 2 of 2002 is not respected, there will be criminal sanctions for the minimarket operators who violate that rule,” Adi said.

Hasan said data from the regional administration showed that in 2011, Jakarta was home to 1,868 minimarkets, with 1,443 of them not having all the required permits, and some having none at all.

“From those without permits, 37 were in direct violation of the regulation because they were less than 500 meters from a traditional market,” Hasan said.

He said the offending minimarkets would be closed down.

Those that violated zoning laws would be given three years to relocate, he added.

“Our consideration is that these minimarket owners of course are renting and usually they are renting for five years,” he said. “Those minimarkets that do not violate the distance requirements but do not have all the necessary permits will be given the chance to get their permits.”

Meanwhile, Triwisaksana, the Jakarta Legislative Council’s deputy speaker, professed to know nothing about the revocation of the ban and said he deplored the move if it were true.

“They should have waited for the revision of the regional regulation on markets, which is still being debated,” Triwisaksana said, adding that he expected the revision to be completed later this year.

“There are only a few more fundamental matters that need more study,” he said.