'Don't come to this heartless city'

Squatters are often blamed for contributing to the chaos in this city but little has been done to alleviate their deprived state. The city's poverty eradication schemes have not reached them, leaving these neglected families living on idle land, riverbanks or under bridges without access to adequate shelter or clean water. The Jakarta Post asked some Jakartans their opinion about squatters.

Jafuri, 42, breeds and sells fighting cocks at his house in Ciputat, South Jakarta. He lives with his wife and son:

If the government considered the squatter areas slum areas, it should provide another place for squatters to live. But these squatters should move on when they are asked to.

These days people move on to land and say they will only stay there temporarily, but then this "temporarily" turns out to be a long time. And after they are evicted, they file a law suit against the developers.

Instead of suing the land owner, they should thank him or her for allowing them to stay for, let's say, three or four years free of charge. Some people may have lived on the land for 20 years but this does not justify them demanding to stay. They're lucky they could stay for so long.

People like that (squatters) are difficult. (Even) after they're given a warning to move, they stay. They are given time, but they remain in place. And then, when they are forced to leave, they start a commotion.

Ahmad Hamdi, 43, is a taxi driver. He lives in Bekasi with his family:

A relative and his family came to Jakarta three years ago. They sold their land back in the village to buy a cheap house in Cengkareng Timur, West Jakarta. He got the house documents from the subdistrict officials, registered as resident and paid his obligations.

Two years later, they were evicted. The officials washed their hands of the matter and the house was bulldozed down, most of their belongings were damaged or gone, and they didn't have the money to start a new life or even to go back to their village. They had sold everything there. Now they have become squatters and the children are staying with other relatives.

Who is to blame in this matter? They are just people trying to find a better life here in the capital city, but then they got deceived by officials or opportunists. They didn't know to whom the land they occupied belonged to but they were given the documents.

This city is full of heartless people, that's what I've told my other relatives to prevent them from coming here to live.

--The Jakarta Post