Fisherfolk to occupy new dwellings<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, Jakarta<\/p>\n
For an area that will be vacated within one day, Kali Adem in
\nMuara Karang district, North Jakarta, was awfully quiet. Most of
\nthe inhabitants preferred to sleep amid the Friday afternoon
\nheat. Nobody was packing.<\/p>\n
\"Yes, we're going to move on Saturday,\" Rawut, a member of the
\nTraditional Fishermen Union (SNT), whose house was demolished by
\nthe North Jakarta administration last October, told The Jakarta
\nPost on Friday.<\/p>\n
The 44-year-old fisherman does not have many things to pack.
\nHis wife, four children, and most of his belongings went with the
\nfirst group, who moved back to their hometown Indramayu in West
\nJava two months ago. Some 100 other families, who were left
\nbehind, will follow on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
Each family will live in a 21-square-meter house on a two-
\nhectare plot of land in Song Beach, Indramayu. They will have to
\npay monthly installments of Rp 90,000 (US$9.54) to the
\nmunicipality. Rawut estimates that the payments will continue for
\n10 years.<\/p>\n
The complex was built especially for the families of fishermen
\nthat belong to the union -- partly in recognition of their
\nresistance to the evictions.<\/p>\n
Public order officers evicted more than 1,000 families and
\ndemolished their stilt houses on the banks of Muara Angke river.
\nMembers of the union are the minority, who stubbornly rejected Rp
\n500,000 as compensation for their houses, which most families had
\nlived in for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n
\"I'll be back within one week,\" said Rawut. The fishermen
\ncannot make a living yet in Indramayu, as they need bigger boats
\nto sail the deeper sea in that area, and different equipment to
\ncatch the different kinds of fish there. For the time being, they
\nwill live on their boats, just as they have done since the
\nevictions, while their wives and children try to adjust to their
\nnew lives in Song. \"My house will be a place to rest,\" said
\nRawut.<\/p>\n
M. Razak, a student of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, who
\nassisted the union, said that, possibly, the Indramayu
\nmunicipality could help with the boats. \"We are still discussing
\nthe options, including the cultivation of seaweed and green
\noysters,\" said Razak.<\/p>\n
He also expressed concern that Song still lacked necessary
\ninfrastructure and services, such as regular garbage collection,
\nstreet lights, and an elementary school.<\/p>\n
Tarminah, 40, has two children in elementary school in Kali
\nAdem. \"The closest school to Song is still too far away,\" she
\nsaid. For the sake of her children's education, she will return
\nto Jakarta once the holiday is over.<\/p>\n
A mother of eight cited another reason for returning to the
\ncapital. \"What am I to do in Song? Here at least I can collect
\nplastic,\" she said, pointing to a white sack full of plastic
\nbottles.<\/p>\n
For one such sack, which takes three days to collect, she
\nreceives Rp 15,000. \"Not bad for the kids' pocket money.\"<\/p>\n
But despite all the problems, the future Indramayu residents
\nfeel positive about the relocation. \"The house may not be much --
\nhalf of the walls are not brick, just woven bamboo,\" said Rawut.
\n\"But, at least, we can sleep in a house of our own.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fisherfolk-to-occupy-new-dwellings-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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