Evictees' tents demolished on eve of Ramadhan
Evictees' tents demolished on eve of Ramadhan
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
On the eve of Ramadhan, a group of people who had been evicted
from their homes in Tanjung Duren Selatan, West Jakarta, had
their makeshift tents torn down by public order officers on
Sunday.
One of the residents told The Jakarta Post their tents were
"cleared" by the officers.
The woman, who requested anonymity, said she now had nowhere
to go. She hurriedly walked away when several thugs carrying
bamboo sticks began staring at her.
The evictees set up tents in front of the abandoned Bank Dewa
Ruci building after their houses next to Mal Taman Anggrek were
demolished by the West Jakarta municipality administration on
Oct. 2.
A number of thugs prevented the Post from entering the area
around the abandoned bank building, saying "their boss" had
ordered them to keep out journalists.
The cleared land is surrounded by a concrete wall and iron
gate.
People were seen coming out through the gates with their
belongings packed in carts or trucks.
Rifat Hasibuan, the lawyer for the heirs of the former owner
of the land, Munawar, would not give a reason for the order to
clear away the tents. He also declined to say why the evicted
people were not allowed to remain at the site any longer.
"I don't even have any information on when ... the abandoned
building will be demolished," he told the Post.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people who were evicted from
Cengkareng, West Jakarta, and Muara Angke, North Jakarta,
expressed distrust for the promises made to them by government
officials and politicians.
"I don't believe in empty promises!" screamed Maryati, one of
the evictees from Cengkareng, to People's Consultative Assembly
Speaker Amien Rais.
Amien met with a group of evictees at the National Commission
for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) office in Central Jakarta on Sunday
morning. No officials from Komnas HAM attended the meeting.
Amien promised the evictees he would hold discussions with
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso on Monday to find a solution for the
evicted people. He also promised to collect food and daily needs
for the evictees during the fasting month.
The residents repeated their call for the government to
provide them housing.
"We thank those who have provided food and daily needs for us
because we really need these to survive," Kajidin, the chairman
of Traditional Fishermen Union in Muara Angke, said.
"But what we really need is a place where we can live
peacefully that will enable us (fishermen) to go fishing again,"
he said.
He complained of the "empty promises" made by Minister of
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri and Minister of
Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno before the
evictions in Muara Angke last Wednesday.
Both ministers had promised to persuade Sutiyoso to postpone
the evictions until after the Idul Fitri holiday. These promises
left the fishermen unprepared when North Jakarta municipality
administration officers demolished their houses later in the day.
Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah was scheduled to
distribute relief packages to Muara Angke's evictees on Sunday.
But Kajidin said that as of Sunday afternoon they had not
received aid from the minister.
On Saturday, the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) distributed 1,500
relief packages containing food and medicine to the evicted
families of Muara Angke.
PMI chairman Mar'ie Muhammad said he hoped the packages would
help prevent the spread of illnesses like diarrhea, respiratory
infections, dysentery, typhoid and rashes.