Activists demand that rights body acts soon

Dewi Santoso and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration's policy on transportation development, such as the construction of new elevated roads in 2003 has victimized the urban poor, a group of activists concluded in their year-end evaluation, revealed on Friday.

The Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said that the development had led to the eviction of 11,400 families, or more than 40,000 people, in 2003 alone.

The figure is an increase from 36,000 people evicted in 2002.

Tigor added that last year, approximately 15,000 sidewalk vendors and 135 becak (three-wheeled pedicab) drivers had lost their jobs due to evictions. The data was collected by the Coalition of Citizens for Jakarta Transportation (Kawat), where Fakta is a member, and Swisscontact.

He claimed that Fakta and the evictees had repeatedly demanded the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) take action to prevent the evictions from occurring.

"But thus far, the Komnas HAM has not taken any action nor protected the evictees," he said, adding that this apparent disregard of the issue would only lead to more evictions.

Earlier, the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) predicted that at least 8,500 families, or around 47,500 people, would likely become homeless this year due to evictions.

Fakta demanded the city administration draft a policy that would defend the rights of the poor.

"The government can't just offer low-cost apartments to evictees. It won't mean anything if the relocation areas are far from their original residences," Tigor said.

What the people needed, he explained, was the assurance and protection of their rights, to live in proper houses and to have jobs -- a policy would secure those rights.

The Central Jakarta District Court staged on Thursday the first hearing of a legal action filed by Fakta against the Komnas HAM, for allegedly neglecting its duty to take action against the evictions.

Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin asked lawyers of both plaintiff and defendant to settle the case amicably, and gave both parties one week to find a credible third party to act as mediator. However, both parties refused.

"What we want is for Komnas HAM to apologize for the plight of the evictees... A simple press conference would do," Tigor said.