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)