After it has been inaugurated, all traders should manage it collectively, so that the number of buyers visiting it will increase."
Boyolali (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized that he did not want traditional markets in the country to lose out to malls, supermarkets, and hypermarkets.

"Do not let our (traditional) markets lose out to supermarkets and malls," he stated while inaugurating the Sambi Market in Sambi Sub-district, Boyolali District, Central Java, on Monday.

The Sambi Market is among the five thousand scattered across the country that the government will renovate in the next five years.

Hence, he called on the traders to manage the Sambi Market after its construction is completed.

"The market has been renovated. After it has been inaugurated, all traders should manage it collectively, so that the number of buyers visiting it will increase," he emphasized.

Traditional markets are unclean and have no parking lots, he pointed out.

The government is aiming to renovate five thousand markets from Sabang in Aceh Province to Merauke in Papua Province in the course of the next five years. Unless the target is achieved, the traditional markets will lose out to modern markets, including malls and supermarkets, he noted.

For its part, traders should keep the traditional markets neat and clean.

"If they are not maintained well, they will lose out to modern markets, such as supermarkets, mini markets, and hypermarkets, which are equipped with air conditioners," he remarked.

The Sambi Market was built on 4,959 square meters of land. The market has a total of 572 traders.

(Reported by Hanni Sofia Soepardi/Uu.S012/INE/KR-BSR/F001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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