Riots to Small Vendors

The two-day postelection riots in Jakarta

have not only claimed eight lives and injured over 700 others

but also taken a toll on the livelihood of small vendors.

Among them was Usma, 64,

He lost his kiosk on Jl. KH Wahid Hasyim.

as the items he sold such as cigarettes and beverages were looted by rioters.
“I lost around Rp 20 million (US$1,382).

They took the cigarettes and drinks that I sold.

There were only two packs of cigarettes remaining,”

He said the looting happened
on Wednesday close to midnight

when the riot escalated as

the rioters on the Sarinah intersection were driven away by the authorities to Gondangdia

he has anticipated the riot and

he closed his kiosk at 11 p.m.,

but the rioters still broke into the kiosk.

“I had locked the kiosk.

When I got back the next morning the kiosk was mostly empty,”

Usma said while looking at the white-walled kiosk.

Usma also lost cash and clothes that were stored in the kiosk.

“There were none of my clothes left [at the kiosk],”

the man who had run the business for decades.

he has reported the incident to the police.

S and I also vendors of small businesses,

They found the kiosks burned to ashes.
 (where they used to sell instant noodles )

The fire at Sabang police station, which

The fire was set alight by rioters on Wednesday,

The fire  spread to their kiosk adjacent to the building,

leaving only a pan and stack of bowls remaining. (tumpukan)
They said they suffered Rp 20 million in losses.

Both of them have decided to leave the capital and

They will return to their hometown in Sumedang, for a while

before starting over.
“We will leave today.

We will wait for the station to be rebuilt to start the business again,”.

All three expressed hope that Jakarta would remain safe
and the deadly riots would never happen again.