Councilors upset at demolition of squatters' houses

Councilors upset at demolition of squatters' houses

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council has expressed disappointment
with the Central Jakarta mayoralty's demolition of 40 houses
along the banks of the Ciliwung river on Thursday, two days ahead
of schedule.

Chairman of the Council's commission for government affairs,
M. Aman, said yesterday that, although the deadline set by the
mayoralty had been today, the squatters' houses had been
demolished on Thursday.

"The council will ask the mayoralty about this matter, since
it set the deadline for today."

"The commission has reported the case to the council speaker
and an official letter of complaint will be sent to the
mayoralty. The mayoralty has disappointed both the City Council
and the residents," Aman told reporters.

Hundreds of Pejambon squatters whose houses along the Ciliwung
River were torn down by the local authorities on Thursday,
visited the city council yesterday to protest against the early
demolition.

The residents did not receive any compensation because the
land belongs to the government.

Commission secretary Abdoelhamid Notowidagdo said that the
Council supports the city administration's program to remove
houses from the river's banks, but that the mayoralty should have
behaved properly.

Juharto, spokesman for the squatters, said the residents had
not been prepared to move out of the area when their houses were
bulldozed on Thursday. "The mayoralty had agreed to delay the
demolition. But the authorities pulled down our houses while we
were visiting the mayoralty to seek clarification about the
deadline."

"We were not allowed to collect our belongings," he added.

West Jakarta

Meanwhile, 17 residents of Jembatan Besi, West Jakarta,
demanded yesterday that the West Jakarta authorities postpone the
demolition of their houses, which are located on the banks of the
Angke River.

They came representing hundreds of squatters whose houses face
demolition under the Clean River Program. A park is to be planted
on the river bank in future.

The authorities issued the final announcement on the
demolition of 315 houses along the Angke riverbank on Thursday,
setting the date as tomorrow. However, the residents are not
ready, according to a local official.

The West Jakarta authorities have given the residents until
tomorrow to pull down their houses. If they fail to do so, the
authorities will demolish them by force.

"We want the authorities to postpone the demolition until next
year," a resident said, adding that they have no alternative
accommodation. "We have always paid the property taxes," he
added.

Karsidin, a mayoralty official, told the residents yesterday
that the fact that they had paid property taxes did not mean that
they had any rights over the land. However, he gave them one more
month to demolish their homes. (yns/29)