Evicted Muara Angke fishermen back at sea<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Around 100 evicted fishermen living along the banks of the Muara
\nAngke River, North Jakarta, have started fishing again last week
\nas they wait for the government to relocate them to Indramayu,
\nWest Java, as promised.<\/p>\n
\"Half of our group have gone fishing, because we can't afford
\nto be idle,\" said chairman of the Traditional Fishermen's Union
\n(SNT) Kajidin on Monday.<\/p>\n
He said some of the fishermen had managed to haul in a good
\ncatch.<\/p>\n
\"Alhamdullilah (Praise be to God), this morning we caught
\nthree kilograms of shrimp and sold them for Rp 50,000 (US$5.88) a
\nkilo,\" he said gratefully.<\/p>\n
Fishermen generally share their catch among the crew of a
\nsingle boat, usually three or four fishermen.<\/p>\n
About 250 families of fishermen had not gone out to sea for
\nalmost three weeks, as they had to live aboard their boats along
\nwith all their belongings following their forced eviction on Oct.
\n22 by the North Jakarta municipal administration. Public Order
\nofficers and other municipal personnel completely demolished
\ntheir stilt houses.<\/p>\n
\"Now, we have pitched a number of makeshift tents on our
\nformer land,\" Kajidin said.<\/p>\n
The land is covered with debris and piles of wooden beams and
\nceiling paneling -- with nails still jutting out from some of
\nthem -- and corrugated iron.<\/p>\n
Kajidin said some boats were still loaded with the fishermen's
\nbelongings, like stoves, mattress and drawers.<\/p>\n
\"Some fishermen have to unload their things on shore in the
\nmorning before setting out, and reload them in the afternoon,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The fishermen have been living without any shelter and are
\nprone to ailments like respiratory infections, diarrhea and
\nrashes. The city administration has refused to provide temporary
\nshelter for the evictees until they find another place to live.<\/p>\n
The city, in \"enforcing the law\", has made thousands of
\nfamilies homeless in the last three months, but has left it to
\ninstitutions like the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
\nHAM) to provide its office as a shelter for evictees.<\/p>\n
Separately, the North Jakarta administration had promised to
\nbuild low-cost apartments in Muara Angke for the evicted
\nfishermen, while the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional
\nInfrastructure had promised to provide land and housing near the
\ncoast in Indramayu.<\/p>\n
Minister Soenarno announced publicly that he had already sent
\na letter to the Indramayu regent, asking the regency to provide
\nland at Song Beach for low-cost government houses for the
\nfishermen.<\/p>\n
The fishermen have survived aboard their boats while waiting
\nfor either the North Jakarta administration or the government to
\nfulfill their promise.<\/p>\n
However, the fishermen are undecided about whether they would
\nchoose to rent low-cost apartments or to buy houses, if both
\noptions are provided.<\/p>\n
\"Most of us seem to prefer buying low-cost houses on credit
\nthan renting apartments,\" said Kajidin.<\/p>\n
The city administration stopped selling low-cost apartments
\nseveral years ago and now only lease them, saying this would curb
\nproperty speculation in the metropolis.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/evicted-muara-angke-fishermen-back-at-sea-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}