Eviction, Who's to blame?

Eviction, Who's to blame?

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta,
tabita@cbn.net.id

More and more poor people in the city are losing their homes
due to forced evictions. In many cases, the authorities conducted
the evictions because the squatters lived on riverbanks, where
settlements are banned, and their presence might cause floods.

The most recent cases occurred in Kampung Baru, Cengkareng,
West Jakarta, this week. On Sept.17, about 2,600 officers from
the police, the armed forces and the city public order office
started to demolish 1,500 houses that were built on a 50-hectare
plot of land owned by the state housing company, Perumnas.

Earlier, in Jembatan Besi, also in West Jakarta, more than
1,700 houses were destroyed, leaving some 6,000 people homeless
when the authorities cleared the 5.5 hectare of land belonging to
PT Cakra Bumi Mandala.

Both cases, like some other forced evictions, were marred with
violence as many residents resisted.

More than 40 residents and nine policemen were reportedly
injured during Wednesday's clash while several suspected
provocateurs were detained.

West Jakarta Mayor Sarimun said that in 1998 he requested
Perumnas to allow residents to use the idle land to grow corps
because at that time many people were left jobless due to the
economic crisis.

He said that the residents should not build any house there.
But he failed to explain how there could be some 1,500 houses on
the land. The mayor -- as well as Governor Sutiyoso -- blamed
its residents who resisted, saying that they should have left a
long time ago. They said that the eviction was in accordance with
the law.

But they could not just blame the people. They should also
look to themselves and their subordinates, who had failed to
supervise the use of the land.

If the authorities really want to uphold the law and keep
everything in order, they should have done it a long time ago,
before irregularities were quite rampant, and before 1,500 houses
were built Perumnas land. The West Jakarta mayoralty officers
should have prevented the people from erecting any buildings
there in the first place.

How could there be so many houses, including permanent
residential structures on the land? Maybe the residents were
stubborn. But maybe they did not know what they were doing. Maybe
there were some culprits who conspired with corrupt officials to
take advantage of the situation.

Many residents refused to leave because they considered
themselves as legal occupants of the land. One resident, Kardi,
40, told journalists that he bought the land in 1997. Another
resident showed a document that she obtained after buying the
land even though its authenticity was not clear.

Rights activists have repeatedly called upon the authorities
not to violate human rights in conducting the evictions. They
also urged the government not to wash their hands and pay
attention to the fate of the eviction victims.

Judging from the legal aspects, it is very clear that the
people are wrong because they occupied Perumnas land. Once a law
is implemented, the assumption is that everybody knows it. People
cannot say that they should not be held responsible because they
are not aware of the law.

Unfortunately, many are ignorant of the law. Take Kardi. He
said that he had bought the land from someone he believed had
rights over the land. Therefore he thought he was entitled to use
the land. Being unaware of the legal consequences, he, and many
others, erected houses and settled down. Which of course explains
their resistance.

On the other hand, there are many people who know the law well
but take advantage of the ignorance of others. They might have
claimed they had the right to the land, sell it to the ignorant
and disappear. They might have also conspired with corrupt
officials even though it was not easy to prove.

The authorities should check their own people and take any
action against their delinquent subordinates.

What is more important for the government to do is to conduct
a legal campaign or legal education to improve legal awareness,
especially among the poor.

And the implementation of the law and regulations should not
be based on legal aspects alone, but must consider the social and
economic aspects as well as the feelings of justice within
society. Positive law is not the only thing that becomes the
guidance of the administration in managing the city. It should
not be implemented rigidly. As a legal expert put it, the
implementation of the law is an art. And to be able to master the
art, one should be sensible and sensitive.