City won't give evictees shelters
City won't give evictees shelters
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration will not provide temporary shelters
for evictees, including infants and pregnant women, even though
the rainy season has already begun, bringing with it heightened
potential for illnesses and infections.
"The governor (Sutiyoso) has said that the administration will
not provide temporary shelters for the evicted families," said
the Public Order Office's emergency division head Syarafuddin
Arsyad on Thursday at the office of the Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla.
The minister, however, along with Arsyad, may have come up
with a temporary solution.
"...We will open several social rehabilitation centers for
those evictees in need of shelter."
Arsyad was responding to protests held at the office on
Thursday by around 150 people of the Coalition of Evicted People.
They demanded the government and the administration to provide
temporary shelter until they found permanent places to live.
Jusuf invited to the meeting a few representatives of the
evictees from Cengkareng Timur, Jembatan Besi and Tanjung Duren
Selatan, all in West Jakarta. Arsyad and West Jakarta Deputy
Mayor Djiman Murdiman Saroso also attended the meeting.
Despite the welcome gesture from the administration, Djiman
said the number of social rehabilitation centers in his
municipality was limited.
The centers provide rehabilitation services for people labeled
by the administration as "people with community and social
problems".
One of the rehabilitation centers in the municipality is
located in Kedoya, and comprises five blocks, one each for men,
women, children, psychotics and homeless people.
Each block has three cells with a maximum capacity of 15
people. Each cell is equipped with a toilet, but lacks proper
beds. Wooden pallets, 15 centimeters in height, and covered with
plastic sheeting, are the beds on which the "detainees" sleep.
Ignorant of the real condition of the centers, some evictees
were happy with the offer, and quickly asked the officials where
the centers were located.
"It's better than living under a flyover," said a woman who
was evicted from Cengkareng Timur.
Many of the evictees have been staying in makeshift tents or
have taken refuge at the National Commission for Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) office in Central Jakarta.
The string of evictions claimed two lives and injured dozens
of people, and a 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by men
wearing the official, blue city uniforms.
Governor Sutiyoso signed an agreement on Thursday with
National Commission for Children's Protection (Komnas PA)
chairman Seto Mulyadi on the disbursement of Rp 76.8 million
(US$9,035) to pay the tuition for a total of 256 evicted children
in West Jakarta municipality.
More than 200 children have also been forced to drop out of
school, because their parents could not afford to pay their
tuition.