Evicted residents offered state housing
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State-owned housing company Perum Perumnas offered hundreds of homeless people three options on Friday after the West Jakarta administration cleared land in Cengkareng Timur subdistrict last month.
The first option for the homeless people is to buy a house in the Perum Perumnas housing complex in Parung Panjang district, Bogor, for the low price of Rp 14 million (US$1,647). The construction of the houses is still underway.
The second option is to be wait listed to rent low-cost apartments which will be built on the cleared land in Cengkareng Timur. The residents will only have to pay Rp 100,000 a month in rent.
The last option is to return to their hometowns, (most of the people come from outside Jakarta), at Perumnas' expense.
The three choices were revealed by Perum Perumnas' lawyer Supriadi during a meeting with the residents and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas Anak) and the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).
"Interested residents can register themselves at Perumnas' office," Supriadi said, adding that the cheap houses -- which are expected to be built by the end of this year -- could be purchased in installments.
Perum Perumnas will commence the construction of the low-cost apartments early next year, he added.
Representatives of the evicted residents voiced different responses to the options. Although they have yet to make a commitment, most preferred to rent the planned low-cost apartments.
One of the residents, Warni, said that a house in Parung Panjang would be too far away for her family and she would face difficulties in finding a job there. Warni said that she had supported her family previously by farming in Cengkareng Timur.
Some of the residents requested permission from Perumnas to stay temporarily in makeshift tents on the cleared land, as they did not have other places to live while waiting for the apartments to be completed.
Supriadi said he was not in a position to respond to the request on behalf of the company.
During the talks, Komnas Anak staff said that they would provide shelters for mothers, babies and toddlers for a two week period. Also, the City Social Agency official attending the meeting offered shelters as well as scholarships for children whose parents were no longer able to send them to school due to hardships following the eviction.
Last month, the West Jakarta mayoralty bulldozed about 1,600 houses in Cengkareng Timur. The land belonged to Perum Perumnas.
Some 25 hectares of the 55-hectare area of land will be a commercial zone for shopping malls and office buildings.
Previously Perumnas' president director M. Latief Malangyudha said that some 15 of the 25 hectares would be sold to the private sector while the rest would continue to be managed by Perumnas. The remaining 30 hectares will be used for apartments.
He said the administration had approved the housing company's project to turn the land into a commercial center.
Eviction -- page 8