Burned out residents seek refuge at City Council

Burned out residents seek refuge at City Council

JAKARTA (JP): Residents of Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta,
yesterday sought refuge in the City Council building, two days
after their homes and tents were burned down by city
administration officials.

"We are asking to stay here only temporarily," Rochani, the
spokeswoman for the 75 delegates, told M.U. Fatommy Asaari, the
councilor from the land affairs commission who received them.

Fatommy said the request was impossible, as the lobby was
scheduled to be used in the afternoon for mass prayers in honor
of the late first lady.

The residents told the councilor that public order officials
on Thursday poured gasoline along Jl. Agung Karya VI in order to
burn down the makeshift homes and shanties of 74 families on the
street.

"We didn't even have time to collect our things, not even our
clothes. Uniforms and school books were also burned," a resident
of the Sunter Agung subdistrict said.

"We asked the officers to show us written instructions saying
that they could burn our homes down," Rochani said in tears,
adding that the officials produced nothing.

The residents, most of whom are vendors, bicycle-taxi drivers
and scavengers, could only stand there and watch their homes go
up in smoke, she said.

The original homes of the residents were destroyed in April
upon an order from the mayoralty after the residents refused to
tear down their own homes. When the residents attempted to stop
the demolition they were beaten down by officials, a resident
said yesterday.

The demolition was reported to the council but their
complaints largely went unnoticed. The mayoralty said that the
buildings were illegal and that the residents shouldn't have been
there in the first place, much less ask for compensation.

Most of the residents have been living in makeshift tents
though some have rebuilt their homes.

"Many of the children have not gone to school since the
demolition three weeks ago," Rochani said.

The residents said yesterday they had been told that the state
land they occupied was to be used for a water pipeline project by
the city-owned water company, PDAM Jaya, and for a green area
being set up by a private automobile company.

However, the residents said that in 1983 they paid local
military officers up to Rp 2 million (US$853.61) per plot,
depending on the size.

The houses built in the swamp area measured between 54 and 100
square meters and were constructed from plywood or cement.

Fatommy assured the delegates that his commission would check
into the matter.

After making a phone call to PDAM Jaya, Fatommy said, "A
director at the water company said that PDAM intends to give
compensation. The amount, however, has not been determined."

Fatommy added that the commission will also check with the
management of the automobile company. (anr)