Evicted residents in rally seek compensation
Evicted residents in rally seek compensation
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hundreds of people from West Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta
visited the city council on Monday, demanding the city
administration to reconsider an eviction order from the houses
and land they have been squatting upon.
The residents' leader Priono claimed the people had been
living on the 20-hectare piece of land for dozens of years and
most of them had identification cards.
"Many of our houses have telephone and electricity connections
and we are customers of city-owned tap water firm PAM Jaya. How
come we are categorized as illegal residents?" Priono asked
during a meeting with the council's commission A for legal and
administrative affairs.
He said the land was occupied by about 290 families who were
now living on a nearby riverbank since the forced eviction began
last Thursday.
The residents clashed with dozens of city public order
officers and police officers trying to carry out their duties on
the land owned by a private developer, PT Sari Kebon Jeruk
Permai.
A number of residents were injured when police shot them with
rubber bullets as they resisted. The land is set to be used build
a new shopping mall.
Another resident, Heri, who has been living in the area since
the 1970s admitted that they had no ownership certificate of the
land, and she believed the land belonged to the state and was
hoping for a cash reward.
"But other residents in other parts of the area who were
evicted in 1989 and last year got compensation from the city
administration. But now, we have not been offered compensation,"
Heri complained.
Without mentioning the amount of payment they wanted, he said
the residents demanded that the administration give them money
according to the market value of the taxable property (NJOP) on
which they were squatting.
The land, which used to be a swampy area, like most of Jakarta
before the Dutch developed it and introduced water management,
was reportedly developed in 1950 by local people. Most of the
residents are simple street vendors, drivers and construction
workers.
Commission A deputy chairman Syarifien Maloko who met the
crowd of evictees on Monday, telephoned North Jakarta Mayor
Subagyo to ask him to temporarily stop the eviction.
"Pak Subagyo has promised me to temporarily stop the eviction
until it was discussed further with the residents," Syarifien of
the Crescent and Star Party (PBB) told the residents.
He said it was unfortunate that the administration had
forcibly evicted them and injured some.
Syarifien and other councillors will fulfill the residents'
demand to inspect the location on Tuesday.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's policy on slum dwellers and
squatters has been repeatedly criticized for its "militaristic
approach and violence, such as forced eviction".
Sutiyoso, who was recently reelected for his second term in
September, started his eviction policy two weeks ago in
Pulogadung bus terminal, where about a thousand undocumented
street vendors were forcibly evicted.
A few days after his inauguration as a governor, the former
Jakarta military commander announced that the administration
would expel undocumented migrants (those from other parts of the
country, mostly rural Java) from the metropolis.