Evictions no solution to city's housing problem<\/p>\n
Marco Kusumawijaya, Architect, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The violence with which the Jakarta city administration
\nrecently evicted the urban poor from their river bank community
\nhas shocked many, especially given indications of arson.<\/p>\n
We should be concerned, not only about the poor, but about a
\ngovernment that we all contribute to financially which seems to
\nlack understanding of a very basic human right.<\/p>\n
And this is not the first time. Another appalling example,
\nstill before the courts, involves the eviction of people from the
\narea below the elevated railroad in Kampung Karang Anyar, Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The government mostly argues that the inhabitants are illegal
\nand claims it protects wider environmental concerns or other
\npublic interests. Most disdainful is its argument that the
\nevicted urban poor are \"migrants\" from other areas in Indonesia,
\nnot the deserving permanent residents of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Those arguments are not only naive and misguided, but also
\ncruel. Violent eviction and banning alone, without any viable
\nalternative, has proved to be a non-solution. At best, they shift
\nproblems from one place to another and keep the poor out of sight
\nonly temporarily.<\/p>\n
The United Nations' covenant on social economic rights
\ndeclares housing as a universal human right. Each and every
\ngovernment is responsible to take care of not only their own
\ncitizens, but all that reside in its country. If this principle
\nis applicable among sovereign nations, it certainly should apply
\namong local governments in a united state of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Illegality is an illusive argument. Many of the houses in the
\nillegal settlements have registered electrical and telephone
\nconnections. While the issue of illegality is correct, its
\nsolution is not single-minded -- let alone violent -- evictions.<\/p>\n
Many cities in developing countries, including Kendari and
\nPalu in eastern Indonesia, accommodate urban \"illegal\" settlers
\nin one form or another. They are either given certified titles
\nover the lands they are occupying, or moved to other titled
\nlands. The basic issue is not legality, but availability of land
\nfor the urban poor. Legality can be endowed by a willing
\nauthority.<\/p>\n
Are lands available in Jakarta? The administration, Jakarta,
\nthrough its companies such as Sarana Jaya and Pasar Jaya controls
\nhundreds, if not thousands, of hectares of land. The lands that
\nare often cleared on behalf of \"public interest\", such as
\nprotection of river banks or other environmental concerns, have
\nin some cases been re-allocated for commercial purposes.<\/p>\n
The coastal natural reserve in North Jakarta was transformed
\ninto high-income commercial housing estates. On spaces below the
\nelevated railroads in Karang Anyar, where from hundreds of
\nfamilies were evicted, are now dozens of kiosks erected by the
\nrailway company.<\/p>\n
The so-called river right-of-ways are not without
\npossibilities to be optimized to give spaces to the poor. The
\nNational Housing Corporation Perumnas controls hundreds of
\nhectares of land in the city.<\/p>\n
On one of their largest chunks at the West Jakarta Outer Ring
\nRoad, however, they are currently building houses for ever higher
\nincome groups. There are also hundreds of hectares of wasted
\nlands resulting from and surrounding the construction of large
\ntoll road interchanges. One of these is just across the burned
\nKampung Tanggul Indah by Pluit interchange in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Why not subsidize lands to the poor, instead of charity
\nsubsidies?<\/p>\n
The urban poor need space more than money or other consumable
\nsubsidies. The very reason they have been occupying marginal
\nlands inside or nearby city centers is survival. They ought to be
\nclose to employment opportunities and cheap resources, such as
\nriver water even if it is polluted, and garbage dumping sites
\nfrom where they can salvage any items of value.<\/p>\n
Of course, even if they wanted to live in better places on
\n\"legal\" lands, they could not afford them under the current
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
It is indeed hard enough for average middle-income groups to
\nafford lands and houses inside the city. And this is no simple
\ncapitalist mystery. It is more the lack of policy by the city
\ngovernment to plan and control affordability of lands and
\nhousings inside the city.<\/p>\n
They are more interested in increasing commercial land-use, as
\nthis yields more short-term gains for city coffers as well as
\ncreates private wealth for some corrupt city officials.<\/p>\n
For the poor, the larger the city, the more \"location\" is
\ncrucial for their survival. But this locational value is not even
\nfor profit as is the case with developers. Locational value is
\njust basic for their survival, considering the high cost of
\ntransport.<\/p>\n
\"Space, not money\" has been exposed as the required assistance
\nfor the poor. But the irony and hypocrisy continues: More charity
\nsubsidies are given while no real policy is being made to
\nallocate affordable spaces for the urban poor. It may seem
\ndifficult to promote such a policy. Poverty is not likely seen as
\na persistent reality. Instead, it is illusively seen as an
\nunwanted reality that should visually disappear from the city, as
\nif the city is a fantasy land only for the rich.<\/p>\n
Without a viable policy to control land prices and make them
\naffordable for housing of the poor and middle-income groups
\nalike, there is no other place to go for the poor but public
\nspace, wherever it is!<\/p>\n
It is of course important to protect rivers and other
\nenvironmental reserves, but it is a noble obligation to take care
\nof the citizens with human rights. Not to forget: Studies show
\nthat urban poor in Jakarta are as productive as others. They are
\nfunctional in the economy of the city, and not at all are
\nparasites like many of the city's corrupt officials.<\/p>",
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