Overpopulation remains a threat for Jakarta<\/p>\n
This week, the Jakarta administration will launch a large-scale
\ncrackdown on unskilled migrants who have entered the city after
\nthe Idul Fitri holiday. Governor Sutiyoso's administration has
\nblamed migrants as the source of many urban problems. Some
\nobservers, meanwhile, believe the crackdown could be in violation
\nof the Constitution, which states that the country's land and its
\nresources are \"assets for the people's prosperity\" and that every
\nIndonesian citizen has the right to \"live and work in human
\ndignity\". In this first article in a series on the issue, The
\nJakarta Post's Damar Harsanto examines whether migration is
\nreally at the root of the city's woes.<\/p>\n
With a current population estimated from 10-13 million, some
\nanalysts estimate Jakarta could be growing by up to 250,000
\npeople a year.<\/p>\n
Many of the migrants to the city often come after the Idul
\nFitri holiday, further squeezing an already overcrowded, dirty
\ncity, which 2004 figures say has a population density of 14,642
\npeople per square kilometer.<\/p>\n
As a consequence, public zones such as parks, riverbanks and
\nthe spaces under overpasses have been turned into slum housing by
\nsquatters, while road shoulders, pedestrian sidewalks and bridges
\nare lined with migrants who earn their living by becoming street
\nvendors.<\/p>\n
Lured by dreams of good money and a better life, every new
\ninflux puts an increased strain on the city's transportation,
\nschools, hospitals and water supplies.<\/p>\n
The waste from riverside slums and larger industrial polluters
\nhas made Jakarta Bay a toxic dump, and the black muck from each
\nof the city's 13 polluted rivers is increasing every year,
\nregularly killing thousands of fish.<\/p>\n
Worse still, more than 60 percent of city's residents, many of
\nthem squatters, rely on groundwater supplies for bathing because
\ninfrastructure to deliver treated tap water is sorely lacking.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso has repeatedly emphasized that the increased numbers
\nof migrants were preventing his administration from solving the
\nmany urban problems in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot improve the lives of city residents should people
\ncontinue to flood into Jakarta ... We have to inform those people
\nthat Jakarta is already overcrowded now,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But urban activists believe it is not the migrants who are the
\nmain cause of the city's problems.<\/p>\n
They blame the massive uncontrolled development in the city,
\nincluding the growth of improperly planned shopping malls,
\ncommercial premises and upmarket housing estates. These they say
\nare crowding out green spaces, increasing groundwater pollution
\nand displacing the poor, giving them nowhere to go but roadsides
\nand riverbanks.<\/p>\n
There were a total of 12 new malls completed in the city in
\n2004 and 11 more are currently being constructed. However, while
\nthe middle classes and businesspeople are catered for, public
\nhousing projects for low-income residents are almost non-existant
\nand substandard accomodation, traffic jams and mounting garbage
\nare now regular features of many peoples' daily lives.<\/p>\n
According to city watchdog the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta)
\nthese planning problems will burden the city for years to come
\nbecause of the glaring lack of professionalism in the
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
\"The administration should humbly admit that it has not been
\nserious or professional enough in dealing with these problems and
\nis now looking for a scapegoat,\" Fakta chairman Azas Tigor
\nNainggolan said.<\/p>",
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