Activists slam habitat award for Jakarta
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A United Nations agency's move on Monday to name Jakarta as one of the cities on this year's Habitat Scroll of Honour award has been slammed by urban activists.
The UN's Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) gave the Jakarta administration the award for transforming the city a safer, better-serviced and greener place under the two terms of Governor Sutiyoso's leadership; highlighting the upgrade of the city's flood canal system, improvements to parks, and the reconstruction of major public facilities.
"This award today ... is actually not only recognition to the Governor of Jakarta, but of course this award goes also to the city and the people of Jakarta," UN-HABITAT executive director Anna Tibaijuka told The Jakarta Post after kicking off World Habitat Day 2005 at the low-cost Bumi Cengkareng Indah apartments in West Jakarta.
World Habitat Day falls on the first Monday of October each year.
The other Indonesian winners are Johan Silas, who initiated the establishment of affordable homes for tsunami survivors in Aceh and villagers in East Java, and the late North Sumatra governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin who provided facilities for tsunami and earthquake survivors in Nias.
Other country's who won awards included China, for its Straw- Bale Energy Efficient Housing Transfer Project, and Sweden's Solar Housing Renovation.
Tibaijuka said it was not easy to run a "mega" city such as Jakarta with more than 10 million people. Despite the many challenges that needed to be faced, the progress made also needed to be recognized, she said.
However, urban activists from Jakarta's Urban Poor Network, Greater Jakarta Becak Network, Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), and Urban Poor Linkage (UPLINK) -- slammed the award and demanded UN- HABITAT take it back. The groups accused the Jakarta administration of sacrificing the interests of the poor when developing the city.
"The facts show that the city has forcibly evicted 92,720 people from their homes, destroyed 23,205 becak (three-wheeled pedicabs) and removed 62,263 street vendors in the past five years," the non-governmental organizations said in a joint statement.
The groups noted the Swiss-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) had awarded Indonesia its "Housing Rights Violator Award" in 2003 for being a country with the most forced evictions, of which the city of Jakarta had featured prominently.
Having toured the slum areas of Jati Pulo in West Jakarta and Pela Mampang in South Jakarta, Tibaijuka said that it was clearly not in the best interests of the people to be allowed to live in such risky environments.
"We have launched the Slum Upgrading Facility. We are trying to see how we can bring in more savings, in particular to bring in the private sector to create a low-cost mortgage system," she said, noting that people living in the slum areas she visited still had to pay rent.