Apartments on stilts, alternative to eviction

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

On one side, the city administration wants to have its 13 rivers clean. One the other side, squatters desperately need better housing and environment.

The combination of both seems impossible but East Jakarta municipality has come up with an idea to build 1,000 low-cost "apartments on concrete stilts". It is a pilot project situated on the banks of Ciliwung River in Kampung Melayu.

East Jakarta Mayor Koesnan Abdul Halim said on Thursday that around 1,000 families who are living along the riverbanks will be relocated to the apartments.

"There will be five buildings of four-story apartments on stilts on the six-hectare plot of land," he told reporters at City Hall after a discussion on city planning and development.

"The apartments on stilts will not make the river shallower and narrower. But at the same time, the squatters will enjoy proper and affordable housing and environment," he added.

Squatters have long been blamed for worsening pollution in the rivers due to their bad habit of throwing their household waste into the rivers. The waste makes the rivers shallow and is prone to floods during the rainy season.

Last year, Governor Sutiyoso launched a forcible eviction campaign against squatters, arguing that they illegally occupied riverbanks and state and privately owned land. The eviction process received strong opposition from activists, who demanded the administration to also provide housing for the poor.

The idea of "apartments on stilts", however, will contradict Bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order, which stipulates that no buildings are allowed on the riverbanks.

Koesnan argued that the construction of the apartments was a part of large scale projects to rearrange areas in the municipality. "We have submitted our proposals of four major projects to the administration."

The municipality plans to establish Jatinegara Golden Triangle, stretching from Jatinegara railway on Jl. Matraman to Kampung Melayu bus terminal.

"At least 50 percent of the area is for commercial purposes, while the rest will be for public facilities including parks, the railway station and the bus terminal," Koesnan said.

Six heritage buildings -- including the former Jakarta Military Command dormitory, Jatinegara railway station, Chinese temple and Santa Maria school compound -- will be tourist destinations.

Two other projects are the construction of the center for small and medium scale industries in Cakung, and the revitalization of a 20-hectare Rawa Bambon lake in Kelapa Dua Wetan.

"We propose Rp 8 billion (US$875,273) fund from the 2005 city budget for the four projects feasibility studies as well as their masterplan," Koesnan said.

Meanwhile, Central Jakarta Mayor Hosea Petra Lumbun said his municipality would also focus on the relocation of residents from slum areas to low-cost apartments.

"Slum areas in Kramat Raya, Gunung Sahari and Matraman will be on our top priority list. We will build low-cost apartments on former school complexes, which have been left vacant due to lack of new students, to become their new houses," he said.