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An association of street vendors called on the House of Representatives on Friday to draft legislation to protect the right of the millions of hawkers across the country to work.

The Indonesian Association of Street Vendors (Apkli) said it was important for the group to have a legal umbrella to protect vendors’ rights as well as outline their responsibilities.

Apkli chairman Ali Marhus claimed there were some 22.9 million street vending operations across the country, mostly selling snacks and meals, employing an estimated 90 million people.

“There has long been negative stigma attached to street vendors,” he said.

“They’re perceived to contribute to traffic and public order problems. But the truth is that street vendors play an important role in the economy.”

With unemployment running high, the government should be grateful to street vendors for creating jobs for millions of people, Ali said.

He also argued that if doctors could enjoy legal protection under their own law, then so should street vendors, who far outnumbered the total workforce in the medical industry.

Apkli says that although street vendors were gainfully employed, they continued to face regular evictions by local authorities, and hence needed legal protection.

Ali said the association had held meetings and workshops with street vendors in various regions in an effort to provide them with sufficient skills and educate them as to their rights and responsibilities.

“We’ll hold talks with the governors of every province and we hope they understand [our cause],” he said. “But ultimately what we want is a law to regulate our profession.”

Priyo Budi Santoso, the House deputy speaker from the Golkar Party, vowed to look into the issue closely.

He agreed that street vendors had long been seen as “second-class citizens” despite their contribution to the economy, saying many people considered them to be annoyances standing in the way of progress.

“It’s a misguided view to see them as obstacles [to development] because in fact they are the saviors of the [informal] economy,” Priyo said.

He added that several local administrations had been successful in managing their street vendors, such as Solo in Central Java and Yogyakarta whose examples he said should be emulated by other regions.

He also criticized authorities for hurting vendors’ livehoods by prioritizing commercial retail spaces, particularly malls, in the pursuit of economic development.

The only regulation governing street vendors is a joint ministerial decree issued by the Home Affairs Ministry, the Trade Ministry and the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises.

But Apkli says the decree is not powerful enough because regional administrations are not obliged to follow its provisions.

The group says a full-fledged law will give assurances about what kinds of public spaces they can operate in, allow them access to bank loans and ensure support such as training to develop their skills. Anita Rachman