'Dialog with squatters crucial'

'Dialog with squatters crucial'

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Providing adequate housing for squatters in the city is not an
impossible task but a matter of willingness on the part of city
officials and the government, said visiting mayor of Naga city,
the Philippines, Jesse Robredo.

He said that mutual trust between the government and the
affected community should be established in order to be able to
open talks to resolve the matter.

For a resettlement program to be successful, the people
concerned must be consulted so they will be well informed and
completely understand the progress in hand, he said.

"Consulting the people is also a part of trust building, which
is important ... meanwhile, violence would only damage people's
trust," said Robredo, referring to the violence which often
accompanies public order raids on the urban poor here.

In a meeting with Minister of Resettlement and Regional
Infrastructure Soenarno at his office, Robredo advised that
whatever decision the government took to address squatters
residing on riverbanks, the problem must be resolved through
talks with the people concerned.

"It is also important for the government to address the basic
needs of the people, such as education, health and access to
transportation," he commented on the government's plan to build
low-cost apartment blocks near rivers to replace the slums.

"Resolving the matter is not a question of budget but a
question of priority," added Robredo, who was invited to the city
by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC).

Another guest of the UPC, human rights lawyer Woon-Soon Park,
cited his skepticism about the government's determination to
resolve the problem.

"The Jakarta governor has no intention of opening talks with
squatters or community leaders, nor has he any thought of
stopping the violence," he said after the hearing.

While acknowledging that the problem of squatters is a
complicated matter and the government's resources were limited,
Park stressed that the Indonesian government must abide by
internationally established human rights laws in its programs and
avoid any form of violence.

After the hearing with the minister, Soenarno said that he
would coordinate with the respective government institutions to
settle the matter.

"Our authority, however, is limited in efforts to provide
housing for the squatters, but I will raise the matter with the
minister of social welfare and the Jakarta governor," Soenarno
told the UPC delegation.

Separately, the UPC and its visiting guests met a Consultative
Group on Indonesia (CGI) delegation and asked that the matter be
raised in the CGI meeting, which will commence on Wednesday.