Evicted residents fight for land<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Seventy former residents of the now destroyed
\nSiliwangi housing complex in Central Jakarta visited the National
\nCommission on Human Rights yesterday to seek help in regaining
\ntheir land.<\/p>\n
The former residents, representing 300 families of war
\nveterans who used to live at the complex on Jl. Senen Raya, told
\nthe commission that they were intimidated and some were badly
\ninjured by the military when they were evicted in 1984.<\/p>\n
\"Hundreds of soldiers from three battalions of the Jakarta
\nMilitary Command were deployed to guard and bulldoze our houses,\"
\nthe residents' spokesman, Soehirman, 61, said while showing
\npictures of the eviction.<\/p>\n
The command was then led by Maj. Gen. Try Sutrisno.<\/p>\n
Soehirman said the residents had been living in the housing
\ncomplex since 1950.<\/p>\n
The military command, however, claimed the land and ordered
\nthe residents to leave.<\/p>\n
The residents rejected an offer of Rp 80,000 per square meter
\non the 9.4 hectare plot, he said.<\/p>\n
The residents were evicted even though legal proceedings over
\nthe land were still in progress in the Supreme Court. The
\nmilitary then handed over the plot to the Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n
Most of the land is still empty, the ministry only using a
\nfraction of the space for a new building, Soehirman said.<\/p>\n
He said the war veterans and their families were heartened by
\nthe new spirit of reform and were pushing to be heard.<\/p>\n
Commission member B.N. Marbun promised to take the issue to
\nMinister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces Commander Gen.
\nWiranto through a formal letter. (jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/evicted-residents-fight-for-land-1447893297",
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