'Council should prevent evictions'

'Council should prevent evictions'

The installment of new Jakarta councillors, slated for the first
week of October, may be canceled as acting speaker Dani Anwar of
the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) refuses to sign the result of
the Sept. 17 speakership election. His refusal is in protest over
reported money politics in the election. Ahmad Heriyawan of the
PKS was defeated by Golkar Party candidate Ade Surapriatna. The
Jakarta Post asked some residents what they expected of the new
council members.

Ribowo, 36, owns a cigarette kiosk on Jl. Perdatam, South
Jakarta. He temporarily lives in the kiosk:

I am originally from Central Java, but I'm trying to earn a
living here. You can call me an alien, because the Jakarta
administration doesn't recognize me as a human being. I was
chased and beaten during my first years in the capital as a
street vendor.

It's not easy to become a resident of Jakarta -- too much
money involved.

Although I'm not yet a resident, I know I have the right to
live anywhere in this country, and that the ID card issued by my
hometown administration should be recognized by all regional
administrations.

I think this particular issue should be seriously addressed by
the new councillors. We all have the right to make a living and
to protection from being relegated to a marginal position within
our own country.

Yarmanto, 30, is a street-side chicken noodle soup vendor in
Grogol, West Jakarta. He lives nearby in a rented house with his
friends:

I would just like to be able to make a living here in Jakarta
peacefully, so I hope the new city council members can help us
out in doing that, such as preventing crimes, evictions and so
on.

Street-side vendors like me are particularly worried about
being evicted by public order officers. I'm also worried that
I'll be evicted one day from the house I'm living in.

If we don't have a place to stay or work, how can we make a
decent living?

And, I think city council members should be able to do that,
because aren't they supposed to be representatives of the people,
and isn't that part of their job?

Even if they cannot prevent evictions, they should at least
urge the administration to provide proper housing for the evicted
and places for street-side vendors.

What else? Just the usual, I guess. Don't be corrupt, don't
get involved in collusion and nepotism.

--The Jakarta Post