Millions evicted yearly for urban developments<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
ISTANBUL, Turkey (JP): The United Nations Center for Human
\nSettlements (UNCHS) records that millions of people are evicted
\nfrom their homes each year to make way for new urban
\ndevelopments.<\/p>\n
Many people living in the heart of big cities, including
\nJakarta, have to leave their homes to make way for major
\nrestructuring projects. These include the construction of office
\nbuildings, hotels, convention centers, as well as transport and
\ncommunication facilities, UNHCS says in An Urbanizing World,
\nGlobal Report on Human Settlement 1996.<\/p>\n
The book was launched by the Secretary-General of the UN
\nConference on Human Settlements (Habitat), Wally N'Dow, here
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Because of the evictions, there are relatively slow population
\ngrowth rates within central cities -- or even population declines
\n-- with much higher population growth rates in the outer areas,
\nthe report said.<\/p>\n
It said that in Central Jakarta, the growth rate during the
\n1980s was around 3.1 percent a year. However, the urban
\npopulation growth rates in the three neighboring districts, which
\nare part of the Jakarta Greater Metropolitan Area (Bogor,
\nTangerang and Bekasi), were 11.7, 20.9 and 19.8 percent
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
The report said that nearly 30,000 Jakarta residents were
\nevicted in 1991 for urban renovation.<\/p>\n
\"It would be wrong to suggest that no redevelopment can take
\nplace within cities that displace people,\" the report said.<\/p>\n
UNCHS acknowledged that inevitably, in any rapidly developing
\ncity, there will be a need to redevelop certain areas, and the
\nneed for public agencies to acquire land for infrastructure and
\nservices.<\/p>\n
The report argued that the issue was not whether redevelopment
\nshould take place, but the fact that it is being undertaken with
\nlittle or no dialogue with the people being displaced.<\/p>\n
The issues to be considered are \"the lack of respect for the
\nneeds of those evicted and the lack of any attempt to ...
\nminimize the scale of the evictions and the disruption caused to
\nthose who have to move,\" the report said.<\/p>\n
What could possibly be considered the largest level of
\nevictions occurred in Seoul, where millions were evicted between
\n1966 and 1990. Between 1983 and 1988, 720,000 people lost their
\nhomes to demolitions and redevelopment, while 90 percent of those
\nevicted did not acquire an apartment in the redeveloped site,
\naccording to the report.<\/p>\n
Recent case studies disclose the trauma of evictions, where
\npeople are forced from homes and neighborhoods where they have
\nlived for years or even decades. Not only do they lose their
\nhomes, but also their friends and neighbors, as they scatter in
\nsearch for other accommodation.<\/p>\n
\"There are also deaths and injuries caused by violence during
\nmany evictions, and the murder of community leaders who oppose
\nthe evictions,\" the report said.<\/p>\n
Over the past several years, the House of Representatives has
\nreceived many reports of forced evictions, both in urban and
\nrural areas. Among the most notable instances of demolition in
\nrural areas were those for the development of Kedungombo dam in
\nCentral Java in 1982, and the planned Nipah dam in East Java in
\n1993.<\/p>\n
The process of land appropriation for the Nipah dam, for
\ninstance, was marked with clashes between security officials and
\nland owners, which left four villagers dead.<\/p>\n
According to the UNCHS report, local governments have a major
\nrole in initiating or sanctioning the evictions.<\/p>\n
The report did not mention the evictions carried out in
\nJakarta to beautify the city for the Asia Pacific Economic
\nCooperation Summit in 1994.<\/p>\n
Slum dwellers are evicted and governments justify the
\nevictions by claiming that slums are \"centers of crime and havens
\nfor criminals\". They also make the justification because of
\nhealth problems in the slums, the report said.<\/p>",
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