Demolition plan upset squatters

Demolition plan upset squatters

JAKARTA (JP): More than 120 families living on the bank of the
river Opak in North Jakarta have complained to the city council
yesterday about a plan to demolish their houses.

Represented by 12 people, the riverbank squatters said on
Wednesday that the West Jakarta mayoralty decided to tear down
their structures without prior information to them.

They said the demolition order, dated Dec. 28 last year, was
an arbitrary and one-sided policy.

The residents said the letter means demolition will be carried
out at anytime without their knowledge.

"We don't want the mayoralty to have our houses demolished
along with our belongings," Muhammad, spokesman of the residents,
told members of the council's commission A for government
affairs.

They claimed that most of them have been living in a one-kilo
meter long river bank for 18 years peacefully.

Another resident, M. Sani, said that they are willing to give
up the riverbank but they demanded the mayoralty to give a
reasonable compensation.

"A reasonable compensation is more than Rp 125,000 (US$58) per
square meter which was received by residents of the complex next
to our houses three years ago," Sani said.

The vice chairman of the commission A, Fattomy Asaari, said
the commission will ask the mayoralty to avoid abrupt demolition.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has vowed to cleanup riverbanks
from squatters. He said the demolition of riverbank squatters'
houses is part of the clean river program, which needs proper
enforcement. (yns)