Big blaze leaves 1,000 homeless in Ancol

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

About 300 houses built by squatters in Ancol subdistrict, Pademangan district, North Jakarta, were razed in a fire early on Tuesday, leaving 1,000 people homeless.

The houses were built on four hectares of land, known as Kebun Sayur, Kampung Muka village, that reportedly belong to state railway company PT KAI, which claimed the land in 1989.

According to local resident Kusen, 32, the fire began at about 6 a.m. in the house of one Mulyono, 35.

The fire, the second in the area since 1989, spread swiftly to nearby houses, most of which were made of plywood.

In discussing the blaze, Mulyono said the fire quickly destroyed the second story of his house, which he rented to a man he identified as Erman.

"I lost everything, including the Rp 20 million (US$2,380) I made from selling my cows back in my village and from relatives. I planned to use the money to start my own transportation business," he said.

More than 27 fire trucks were deployed to the scene, and were able to bring the blaze under control by 8:30 a.m.

Commander Joni Aryoni of the Jakarta Fire Department said his men had difficulty getting their equipment into the densely populated neighborhood.

Firefighters tore down 12 houses that had not caught fire to prevent the blaze from spreading any further and doing even more damage. Because there are no hydrants in the area, the fire trucks had to draw water from a nearby gutter.

Ancol subdistrict head Dwi Haryanto said his office did not have an accurate number of squatters living in Kebun Sayur.

He said the area had been cleared in 1989 but people soon returned and began rebuilding their houses.

"There is the possibility the city administration will ban the squatters from rebuilding on the site," Dwi said as reported by Tempointeraktif.com.