Dozens of delman (traditional buggy) drivers staged a demonstration Monday, urging the Central Jakarta municipal administration to lift a ban on their operation inside National Monument (Monas) Park.
During the protest at City Hall, they also demanded that Central Jakarta's newly elected mayor, Sylviana Murni, step down.
"I heard the administration restricted the operation of delman in Monas because horses 'pollute' the park. In fact, their impact is nothing compared to pollutants from the diesel-fueled tourist trains. The horses' manure is environmentally friendly," said Agus Casyono, the demonstration coordinator, from the Union of Indonesian Poor People.
Agus was referring to two tourism trains which were launched March 9 by Governor Fauzi Bowo.
If the administration does not lift the ban, Agus said, they will hold a bigger rally Wednesday with 4,000 participants.
The ban was introduced in June last year while Muhayat was still mayor. At that time, delman were still allowed to operate inside the park on weekends.
Recently, however, the administration decided to further restrict delman, stopping them from entering the park at all. Now, the drivers wait for customers in a parking lot on the southern edge of Monas, offering trips around the park on public roads.
It is believed the administration replaced delman with free trains, which operate daily from 8:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The delman drivers say they have lost almost half of their usual income.
"We used to make Rp 150,000 (US$16) on weekends but now it has dropped to Rp 75,000," said Nanang, who has been a delman driver for 14 years.
"I really hope the administration will allow us to keep operating in the park because delman are a Betawi tradition," he said.
Commenting on the protest, Fauzi Bowo said horse urine can cause acute respiratory infections in children.
"The urine can be smelled for meters in tropical conditions like Jakarta. If the smell can be eliminated chemically, we will work on it," he said, adding that he would discuss the issue with the mayor. (JP/trw)