Tens of thousands to be evicted as airport expands<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of people living in seven subdistricts near
\nSoekarno-Hatta International Airport will be evicted from their
\nhomes and land in the near future due to the planned expansion of
\nthe 1,800-hectare airport in Cengkareng, Tangerang.<\/p>\n
The seven subdistricts consist of four -- Benda, Jurumudi
\nLama, Pajang, and Belendung -- in Benda district; and three --
\nSelapajang Jaya, Karangsari and Karanganyar -- in Negalasari
\ndistrict.<\/p>\n
The Tangerang municipal administration has allocated some 567
\nhectares of land in the seven subdistricts for the airport
\nexpansion while the regency administration has provided 1,410
\nhectares in the area. The land clearance will start next month.<\/p>\n
\"We have no idea where else to move to because this is the
\nthird time the airport will have evicted residents from their
\nvillages,\" Yanto, a father of seven children living in Jurumudi
\nLama subdistrict, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.<\/p>\n
Yanto, who drives a public minivan serving the Pasar Anyar-
\nJurumudi route, said that he, along with hundreds of his
\nneighbors, had first been evicted to make way for the airport in
\n1972.<\/p>\n
\"I only received compensation of Rp 300 per square meter for
\nmy land, and then bought a piece of land to build a house at Rp
\n500 per square meter here. This means that I suffered a loss and
\nhad to make up the extra Rp 200 per square meter,\" he complained.<\/p>\n
He said that in 1982, the airport was extended again and he
\nwas evicted once more. This time he was only paid compensation of
\nRp 1,000 per square meter. He had to buy another piece of land on
\nwhich to build a house at a price of Rp 1,500 per square meter.<\/p>\n
\"Now, we hope that this will not happen again. Development
\nshould have given more advantages to the evicted residents, not
\nmerely losses piled on top of losses,\" he said. \"If I move to
\nKalideres, I could be evicted again due to the Jakarta Outer Ring
\nRoad project. If I move to Teluk Naga, there's a seaport to be
\ndeveloped. To Tangerang town? I have no money and it's very
\nexpensive.\"<\/p>\n
\"Yes, it looks like we'll have to build floating houses in the
\nsea so that there will be no more evictions,\" he added laughing.<\/p>\n
But Sarmili, a resident of Selapajang subdistrict, said
\nthat he and other residents would file no objections
\nas long as PT Perum Angkasa Pura, which manages the airport,
\nprovided them with fair compensation for their property.<\/p>\n
\"As of today, there has been no information about how much
\nthe company will pay us for our land,\" he said on Friday.<\/p>\n
But he said several residents had agreed that Rp 1 million
\nwould be fair and adequate compensation per meter of land.<\/p>\n
\"Even with Rp 1 million per meter, there is still no
\nguarantee that we will be able to afford to buy land and build
\nhouses in other places,\" Sarmili added.<\/p>\n
The municipal administration secretary, Achmad Sudjai, who
\nchairs the team responsible for the land acquisition, failed to
\nanswer a resident's question about how much compensation would be
\npaid to evicted residents.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a meeting with the residents on Thursday,
\nSudjai said that he could not as yet determine the amount of
\ncompensation per square meter as it would depend on the agreement
\nlater to be made between the residents and the team.<\/p>",
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