Batam slum dwellers expelled from homes, seek shelter<\/p>\n
By Ridwan Sidjabat<\/p>\n
BATAM, Riau (JP): After following a small gravel path I
\narrived at a slum near the Batamindo Industrial Estate on Batam
\nIsland. I saw several naked, dirty children playing chase among
\nthe trees. Their parents were busy demolishing their ramshackle
\nhuts because they had received a demolition order from the local
\ncouncil.<\/p>\n
\"Hello sir, can I help you?\" asked a five-year-old boy, who
\nthen asked me to take his photo.<\/p>\n
\"You should go that way, if you want to meet the girls,\"
\nindicated another child, pointing to a small decorated hut.<\/p>\n
Five beautiful girls sitting on the veranda of a small
\ndecorated hut tried to get my attention with smiles.<\/p>\n
Only 50 shacks are left in the slum. Hundreds of others have
\nbeen moved to Tanjung Piayu, five kilometers west of the
\nindustrial estate.<\/p>\n
Thousands of illegal houses make up the 60 slums on Batam
\nIsland. Other slums include Tanah Longsor, Lubuk Baja, Batu
\nBatam, Batu Aji, Baloi Center, Kumpung Sraya, Pamanuangi,
\nBengkong Harapan and Tiban Kampung.<\/p>\n
Most of the slums are located on the edge of forests near
\nindustrial estates. Some are in the towns of Nagoya, Batam
\nCenter, Batu Ampar and Nongsa.<\/p>\n
The people say they have to live there because the price of
\nhouses on the island is far beyond their reach.<\/p>\n
\"How can I get the money -- about Rp 30 million -- to purchase
\na house developed by the (Batam Industrial Development)
\nAuthority?\" asked Miryam, a 55-year-old widow who lives in Muka
\nKuning.<\/p>\n
Miryam and her five children live in a 16-square-meter hut.
\nThey have one small wardrobe and a plaited mat that they sleep on
\ntogether at night.<\/p>\n
\"We are not allowed to stay here because the local authorities
\nhave said everyone has to move out by Jan. 20. They have said
\nthey will bulldoze all the huts if we refuse to take them apart,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
Miryam, a widow of an army officer who was killed in East
\nTimor in 1980, sells snacks, drinks and cakes in the industrial
\nestate to support her family.<\/p>\n
\"Alhamdulillah, I can earn about Rp 10,000 a day,\" she said,
\nadding that her sons drive motorcycle taxis. Her daughters are
\nunemployed.<\/p>\n
Promise<\/p>\n
Today all the shacks in Muka Kuning have been demolished. The
\nauthorities kept their promise on Jan. 20.<\/p>\n
Budi Santoso, spokesman for the Batam Industrial Development
\nAuthority, told The Jakarta Post on Jan. 26 that all the slum
\nareas located near industrial estates on the island have been
\ndemolished. Those located in natural reserves and housing
\ncomplexes would be destroyed in phases.<\/p>\n
He said the demolition was due to the authority's plan to
\nenlarge the existing industrial estates in Muka Kuning, Kabil,
\nSekupang and Nongsa.<\/p>\n
The inhabitants of another slum, in Tanjung Piayu, are young
\nfactory workers. They work in the Batamindo industrial park,
\nwhich boasts 59 electronics factories.<\/p>\n
Most of them are women who say they would rather live in the
\nslum than in the company dormitories because it enables them to
\nsave more money. Some are no longer allowed to stay in the
\ndormitories because they are married.<\/p>\n
Fadjrin, Linda, Tuti, Ratna and Silvia are employees of PT
\nSumitomo, a Japanese electronics factory in Muka Kuning. They
\nsaid they use their monthly housing allowance to rent a small
\nhouse in the illegal housing area.<\/p>\n
\"This way we can save money and have a bit of money to shop on
\nweekends,\" said Ratna.<\/p>\n
She said that most of the people living in the slums around
\nthe industrial estates are laborers.<\/p>\n
R. Panjaitan, who lives in a slum in Tanah Longsor, said that
\nin spite of the government's warning, he and his family of four
\nwould remain in their house.<\/p>\n
\"Where will we stay if they demolish our house? No one would
\nlive in such an area if they weren't forced to,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
Panjaitan, who came to Batam in 1984 from his home village in
\nBalige, North Sumatra, said he couldn't get a better job with a
\nhigh salary because he lacked specialized skills. He has a food
\nstall to provide for his family.<\/p>\n
\"If the government wants to eradicate the slums,\" he said, \"it
\nshould develop houses and give them to the local people free of
\ncharge.\"<\/p>\n
\"Batam, in reality, is an island of pains, not a paradise,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Police Major Bambang, who lives in the slum in Lubuk Baja,
\nalso blamed real estate prices for the situation.<\/p>\n
\"Which civil servant can purchase a house that costs at least
\nRp 50 million? It's impossible,\" he said.<\/p>\n
M. Siregar, a worker at the state-owned PT Astek plant and a
\nslum-dweller, added: \"If the government wants to demolish the
\nillegal houses, it should build cheap, affordable houses.\"<\/p>\n
Irony<\/p>\n
Right beside the slums, thousands of houses developed by the
\nBatam Industrial Development Authority remain uninhabited.<\/p>\n
In Batam Center, located close to a slum, there are more than
\none thousand opulent houses with no one living in them.<\/p>\n
Samuel Purba, chairman of the local branch of Real Estate
\nIndonesia, explained that the luxurious houses, with prices
\nranging between Rp 150 million and Rp 250 million, had already
\nbeen sold. \"Their owners are in Jakarta,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that most people in Batam had low salaries and
\nneeded very simple housing. But, he said, most local developers
\nare reluctant to build cheap houses, because they yield small
\nprofits.<\/p>\n
Influx<\/p>\n
The Batam Industrial Development Authority has said the flow
\nof unskilled people to the island is to blame for the rapid
\ngrowth of slums.<\/p>\n
\"An average of 3,000 unskilled job seekers come to Batam every
\nmonth and the figure is expected to continue rising in the
\nfuture,\" Budi Santoso, a spokesman for the Batam authority, said.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot prohibit the newcomers from coming here because it
\nis their right to do so,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
He said the slums were one of the negative aspects of
\ndevelopment on the island.<\/p>\n
\"The problem of the slums will become more complex if it is
\nnot handled properly.\"<\/p>\n
The local administration is cracking down and Jan. 20, 1994,
\nhas been set as the deadline for occupants to dismantle their
\nhouses, he said.<\/p>\n
\"A team has been sent out to inform people about the
\ngovernment's plan to eradicate slums,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Budi confided that the way the government is handling the
\nslums will not solve the problem since the people are not able to
\npurchase their own houses from the developers.<\/p>\n
He said the local administration should urge developers to
\nbuild affordable, simple houses, so that the people don't have to
\nlive in shacks.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/batam-slum-dwellers-expelled-from-homes-seek-shelter-1447893297",
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