Evicted Muara Angke fishermen back at sea
Evicted Muara Angke fishermen back at sea
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Around 100 evicted fishermen living along the banks of the Muara
Angke River, North Jakarta, have started fishing again last week
as they wait for the government to relocate them to Indramayu,
West Java, as promised.
"Half of our group have gone fishing, because we can't afford
to be idle," said chairman of the Traditional Fishermen's Union
(SNT) Kajidin on Monday.
He said some of the fishermen had managed to haul in a good
catch.
"Alhamdullilah (Praise be to God), this morning we caught
three kilograms of shrimp and sold them for Rp 50,000 (US$5.88) a
kilo," he said gratefully.
Fishermen generally share their catch among the crew of a
single boat, usually three or four fishermen.
About 250 families of fishermen had not gone out to sea for
almost three weeks, as they had to live aboard their boats along
with all their belongings following their forced eviction on Oct.
22 by the North Jakarta municipal administration. Public Order
officers and other municipal personnel completely demolished
their stilt houses.
"Now, we have pitched a number of makeshift tents on our
former land," Kajidin said.
The land is covered with debris and piles of wooden beams and
ceiling paneling -- with nails still jutting out from some of
them -- and corrugated iron.
Kajidin said some boats were still loaded with the fishermen's
belongings, like stoves, mattress and drawers.
"Some fishermen have to unload their things on shore in the
morning before setting out, and reload them in the afternoon," he
said.
The fishermen have been living without any shelter and are
prone to ailments like respiratory infections, diarrhea and
rashes. The city administration has refused to provide temporary
shelter for the evictees until they find another place to live.
The city, in "enforcing the law", has made thousands of
families homeless in the last three months, but has left it to
institutions like the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
HAM) to provide its office as a shelter for evictees.
Separately, the North Jakarta administration had promised to
build low-cost apartments in Muara Angke for the evicted
fishermen, while the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional
Infrastructure had promised to provide land and housing near the
coast in Indramayu.
Minister Soenarno announced publicly that he had already sent
a letter to the Indramayu regent, asking the regency to provide
land at Song Beach for low-cost government houses for the
fishermen.
The fishermen have survived aboard their boats while waiting
for either the North Jakarta administration or the government to
fulfill their promise.
However, the fishermen are undecided about whether they would
choose to rent low-cost apartments or to buy houses, if both
options are provided.
"Most of us seem to prefer buying low-cost houses on credit
than renting apartments," said Kajidin.
The city administration stopped selling low-cost apartments
several years ago and now only lease them, saying this would curb
property speculation in the metropolis.