Jakarta – Around 150 vendors from various traditional markets across the city rallied Tuesday at the City Council to protest the planned relocation of abattoirs.

The protest, the second this year, proceeded peacefully and was addressed by the council's Commission A.

"If the bylaw is enforced, we'll lose our jobs due to the rising costs (of longer commutes between slaughterhouses and markets)," Siti Maryam, head of the Jakarta Poultry Vendors Union (HPUJ), said Wednesday.

The 2007 bylaw limits the slaughter of animals to five designated slaughterhouses across the city.

Last October, the city's agriculture agency notified the vendors that effective April this year, the slaughtering of animals would no longer be allowed at traditional markets.

In the notice, the agency said it would mete out punitive action against those found violating the bylaw.

Ida Mahmuda, chairwoman of the City Council's Commission A, said she would hold a meeting with other councilors and call in agriculture agency officials for clarification.