NGO Activists condemn squatter evictions<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The involvement of public order officers, policemen and military
\nofficers in the eviction of around 10,000 illegal occupants of
\nprivate-owned land at Jembatan Besi area, Tambora, West Jakarta,
\nhas been protested by urban activists.<\/p>\n
The Urban Poor Network, a group of non-governmental
\norganizations which includes the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC),
\naccused on Thursday the West Jakarta mayoralty administration as
\nconspiring with businesspeople.<\/p>\n
"The civil servants -- who should have protected and served
\nthe people -- evicted them from their houses to serve the
\ninterests of PT Cakra Wira Bumi Mandala, without any concern
\nabout where these people could go," the Network said in a
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
The mayoralty, through its public order officers and with the
\nassistance of police, military and, allegedly, thugs hired by the
\ncompany, began to evict residents from the 5.5 hectares of land
\non Tuesday. The land belongs to PT Cakra Wira Bumi Mandala, which
\nreportedly plans to resume building a business district there.
\nThe eviction turned violent, with residents complaining of not
\nbeing warned about the action.<\/p>\n
The residents -- who mostly rented makeshift houses in the
\narea -- are now camping in open fields near their old homes.<\/p>\n
To help residents, the Network opened a public kitchen on
\nThursday providing meals.<\/p>\n
Voicing similar concerns, the Jakarta Resident Forum (Fakta)
\ncoordinator Azas Tigor Nainggolan underlined that the eviction
\nshould not have occurred.<\/p>\n
Tigor, who is also a lawyer, said that the company should have
\nfiled a civil suit against the illegal occupants and taken more
\nhumane measures in vacating them from the land... "instead of
\npaying and hiring the public order officials, police, military
\nand thugs".<\/p>\n
"In this case, the Jakarta administration and the police
\nobviously breached the law and had become 'the hit men' of the
\nowners," he said.<\/p>\n
Fakta has recorded a series of evictions that claimed lives:<\/p>\n
During 2001, the city administration carried out 45 evictions,
\nin which three people were shot -- when they refused to move--
\nand 19 others died.<\/p>\n
In 2002, another 4,792 people were evicted from their houses.<\/p>\n
Fakta stated that in the last three years, 591 "unexplained"
\nfires burned down the housing of the poor.<\/p>\n
"Komnas HAM had issued a moratorium on eviction of residents
\nof Teluk Gong, North Jakarta, on Dec. 2001, but did not act when
\nthe administration violated it. Now, Komnas HAM should set up a
\nteam to investigate all evictions carried out by city
\nadministration, as the evictions may be in violation of the
\nresidents' basic rights," Tigor asserted.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ngo-activists-condemn-squatter-evictions-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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