70 fishing families lose homes

JAKARTA: Some 70 fishing families in East Ancol lost their temporary homes on Friday afternoon after the North Jakarta public order office bulldozed the structures and burned the remains.

Uli Parulian Sihombing from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said the officers had also burned a pier where the fishermen docked their boats.

The fishing families are staying at the LBH office on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, he said, adding that they planned to complain about the incident to members of the House of Representatives.

Uli also said that his assistant, who was with the fishermen during the demolition, was hit by public order officers. The case will be reported to the Indonesian Bar Association.

Early this month, the office demolished their houses in the Ancol fishing village for the development of a recreation center, but the people refused to leave and rebuilt their homes. --JP