City Hall urged to issue warnings on demolition

City Hall urged to issue warnings on demolition

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council wants the local administration to announce clear public plans on the future demolition of illegally constructed houses, especially those built by squatters.

The secretary of the council's Commission A, Abdoelhamid Notowidagdo, said that with such plans the executives could do everything systematically. Commission A is in charge of, among other things, administrative affairs.

"The owners of houses which will be demolished could also make any necessary preparations before they give up their houses to the demolition team," Abdoelhamid said.

With such an open policy residents' protests against demolition could be reduced.

The Commission A suggestion was presented in a hearing with other commissions on Monday, he said.

Abdoelhamid said the proposal was made after many complaints were filed by residents whose houses were demolished. They always said that the authorities had acted arbitrarily when they pulled down their houses without prior warnings.

The city administration has never had a clear plan on the demolition of squatters' homes. This has apparently made many people upset and frustrated.

"This should be stopped because basically the residents are not opposing the policy. All they ask for is early notification so they can prepare themselves," he said.

The city administration has been intensifying its program to clear the city's riverbanks of illegal shanties.

Many dissatisfied residents have complained about previous demolitions to the city council. They said the officials did not give them a chance to save their belongings.

According to the regulations, mayoralties should notify the residents with three demolition orders before tearing down their property.

The first order gives the residents seven days to leave their houses, the second gives three days and the last is given one day before the deadline.

However, the regulations have often been ignored. Most of the demolition victims said they only received one day's notice before city officials leveled their houses.

Abdoelhamid also said that the commission has urged the city administration to prepare funds to give appropriate compensation to the residents or to allocate new sites to relocate them.

"The administration should consider this aspect too," he said.

The city administration usually refuses to give compensation to squatters on the grounds that they resided on state-owned property illegally but in some cases the administration does give a small, token amount. (yns)