What the city gets from evictions<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The ambition to turn Jakarta into a slum-free capital city
\ntriggered the recent string of evictions ordered by Governor
\nSutiyoso at all costs, including alleged human rights violations.<\/p>\n
Arguing that squatters, living in makeshift houses, were
\nresponsible for turning state-owned land or private property into
\nslums, Sutiyoso refused to provide shelters for the evictees. He
\nrepeated his reason: that the squatters were not his residents.<\/p>\n
He ignored the fact that some of the evictees hold Jakarta ID
\ncards. He rebuffed those who explained that the squatters had
\npaid to obtain permits from certain officials in subdistrict
\noffices to live in the areas, to access water, electricity and
\nsometimes telephone lines. He did not even care that some of the
\nevictees had contributed to his administration by paying their
\nproperty tax.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso may well not want to realize the impact of his
\neviction orders, some of which were conducted with full force.<\/p>\n
This year alone, more than 5,000 evicted families were left
\nhomeless. Next year, this number looks set to increase with the
\ncity continuing to evict residents. The failure to provide low-
\ncost housing or low-cost rental apartments is callously
\nneglectful of the city's poor.<\/p>\n
In this year's forcible evictions, two lives were lost and
\ndozens of people injured. In certain cases the administration or
\nthe land owners allegedly hired thugs to turn families out of
\ntheir own homes.<\/p>\n
When the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure
\nproposed to set up low-cost housing in several provinces, Jakarta
\nturned down the offer reasoning that the price of land in the
\ncapital had skyrocketed and would better serve commercial
\nservices.<\/p>\n
With no available, affordable housing the poor have built
\nshanties on all manner of vacant land, including land already
\ncleared in previous evictions.<\/p>\n
Dozens of evictees in Jembatan Besi, West Jakarta, live a
\nstrange half-life. At night, they erect makeshift tents on the
\nland they had once lived on. During the day, the site is
\ndisbanded and the tents are gone.
\n Hundreds of evictees in Cengkareng Timur and Tanjung Duren
\nSelatan, both in West Jakarta, have taken shelter at the office
\nof the National Commission for Human Rights's (Komnas HAM) in
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Fishermen families, who had lived on the banks of Muara Angke
\nriver, are sleeping cramped-up on their boats or on the edge of
\nthe protected mangrove forest across from their previous houses.
\nSome of the families had already been evicted twice, decades ago,
\nfrom Ancol and from Muara Karang.<\/p>\n
The eviction processes did not only destroy the houses of the
\npoor, they destroyed their spirits, their livelihoods, their
\nfutures.<\/p>\n
Children had to stop studying as their parents could not pay
\ntheir tuition fees. Fathers could not longer work as they had to
\nsecure their families.<\/p>\n
The evictions were apparently funded with money from the city
\nbudget and from the taxpayers, as admitted by head of the City
\nPublic Order Agency Soebagio.<\/p>\n
He revealed on Oct. 15 that some agencies in Jakarta
\nadministration had escalated their spending prior to the end of
\nthis year. The administration was criticized for its sluggish
\ndevelopment programs as it was only able to spend around 25
\npercent of the total Rp 11.5 trillion (US$1.35 billion) city
\nbudget in the first semester.<\/p>\n
Public order officers carrying out evictions receive a Rp
\n50,000 daily allowance. If they are asked to clear private
\nproperty, the allowance is paid by the land owner.<\/p>\n
The city must also pay the evictees compensation, although the
\namount is relatively small -- between Rp 250,000 and Rp 500,000
\nfor each demolished house.<\/p>\n
Experts and urban activists have suggested better ways to
\novercome the housing problem.<\/p>\n
A housing and community development specialist with the World
\nBank, Parwoto Sugianto, suggested that the city administration
\ncreate fair conditions for both the rich and the poor to obtain
\nland.<\/p>\n
He called on the administration to see the community as an
\nactive participant or a subject, instead of the object of
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
But such a humane outlook was considered redundant. The
\nimpatient administration opted for the quick-way-out and tackled
\nthe city's housing problems by cleaning the city from slums.<\/p>\n
Wardah Hafidz from the Urban Poor Consortium suggested an
\nalternative scheme.<\/p>\n
She explained that on lands owned by individuals or private
\nsectors, 10 percent of the land could be leased to home-seekers,
\neither with low-cost apartments or alternative housing
\narrangements.<\/p>\n
She argued, that under such deals, should land-ownership
\nissues arise in the future, both sides would be legally bound and
\nthus ensured of legal certainty.<\/p>\n
Franz Magnis-Suseno, an expert in philosophy and human rights
\nfrom the Dryarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, emphasized
\nthat Indonesia acknowledged the legal basis of shelter by
\nadopting the principle of human rights in its Constitution and
\nsigned the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and
\nalso the People's Consultative Assembly Decree No. 17\/1998 that
\nguarantees citizens a place to live.<\/p>\n
He argued that the right to housing was an absolute right and
\nshould not be overridden by the individual rights of land owners.<\/p>\n
Desperate evictees urged Komnas HAM to probe forcible
\nevictions but a compromise between the administration and
\nKomnas HAM, the National Commission of Child Protection (Komnas
\nAnak) and the National Commission of Anti-Violence Against Women
\n(Komnas Perempuan) resulted in a joint concept of "more humane
\nevictions".<\/p>\n
Without any realistic solutions so far, the promise from the
\nNorth Jakarta municipality administration, to provide low-cost
\nrental apartments in Muara Angke, is a relief for the evictees,
\nalthough no details of the intended time frame are available.<\/p>\n
State-run low-cost housing company Perum Perumnas has also
\npromised to build a low-cost rental apartment block in Cengkareng
\nTimur.<\/p>\n
As Sutiyoso will be busy securing the capital for next year's
\nelections, and political parties are pursuing their own agendas,
\nthe evictees must look after their own welfare and stand ready to
\nbe driven away from the hustle and bustle of the capital.<\/p>\n
.rm72
\nList of evictions in 2003<\/p>\n
No. Location, District Municipality Evicted houses Month<\/p>\n
(est. number)
\n1. Kalijodo, Penjaringan North Jakarta 150 March
\n2. Jembatan Besi, Tambora West Jakarta 1,700 August
\n3. Cengkareng Timur, West Jakarta 500 September<\/p>\n
Cengkareng
\n4. Tanjung Duren Selatan, West Jakarta 500 October<\/p>\n
Grogol-Petamburan
\n5. Tegal Alur, Kalideres West Jakarta 250 October
\n6. Muara Angke, Penjaringan North Jakarta 1,200 October
\n7. Cipinang riverbanks, East Jakarta 500 December<\/p>\n
Jatinegara
\n8. Pulomas dam, Pulogadung East Jakarta 300 December
\n9. Muara Baru, Penjaringan North Jakarta 64 December<\/p>\n
Source: Media reports<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/what-the-city-gets-from-evictions-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }