City still ignoring victims of forced evictions

JP/A.Nara Krisna

JAKARTA: Lasimun, 51, stood before the remains of a slum on the banks of Penjaringan canal in North Jakarta, where he had lived for the past 15 years before officers of the public order agency burnt down his and hundreds of other squatters' houses in the area.

Just like his neighbors, he and his family of four have no choice but to live in a temporary hut measuring 1.5 by 1.5 meters with no electricity or fresh water. Residents were forced to use scraps to erect their new dwellings.

Of the 15,000 people living in the area prior to the forced evictions, around 1,500 remain, saying they have nothing left following the public order agency's operation. The others have either returned to their hometowns or moved to other nearby slums.

As the new year approaches, they hope the city administration will address their problem. But there has been no indication yet that it will fulfill their demands for adequate compensation and relocation to more favorable sites.

As a result of the poor conditions in the area, many residents have been suffering from skin diseases and children have been unable to continue their schooling. Worse still, they are currently also having to cope with flood tides and the bad weather that has accompanied the rainy season.

On Nov. 20, the administration signed an agreement with non- governmental organizations and the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) which visited the area over the weekend, to halt evictions for 100 days from the date of the signing.

However, the administration has violated the agreement, saying it needed to enforce the law and impose public order. Its actions have been widely criticized by the public as the administration failed to provide the victims with compensation and new residential sites.