Evictions becoming increasingly refined

Evictions becoming increasingly refined

JAKARTA (JP): Evictions are on the rise, backed up by legal
instruments and increasingly sophisticated methods, lawyers and
activists say.

A rule declaring the use of land "for public interests", as
defined by a master plan reviewed every five years between the
governor and city council, is no longer being referred to.

It has been replaced by a new decree, listing areas to be
defined as "public interest" areas -- such as hospitals and other
facilities -- lawyer Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said.

Meanwhile, residents living on land planned for clearing have
become apathetic, as they watch other cases in which similar
inhabitants lose out against the government and investors, said a
social worker from a non-governmental organization on urban
affairs, Sandyawan, of the Jakarta Social Institute.

"Collusion has occurred on a broad scale in the sense that the
government has taken sides with investors rather than with the
people," Nursyahbani said yesterday.

Other lawyers noted that land has long become an economic
commodity.

They were commenting on forced evictions, a main issue raised
in the ongoing United Nations Conference on Human Settlements in
Istanbul, Turkey.

As of this year alone, at least 20 cases have surfaced across
the city.

The director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, Luhut
Pangaribuan, said those with access to power and wealth
"can decide the price and process of eviction through the use of
authorities and certain groups" like hoodlums.

He cited the latest eviction in the Tanah Abang district in
the Kebon Kacang subdistrict of Central Jakarta. Councilors have
questioned the mayor's demolition order for the area, where they
said a five-star hotel is planned.

Nursyahbani added that another problem related to eviction for
private interests involves authorities -- particularly from the
city planning agency -- who do not know which plots are state
property.

"Therefore, they cannot conduct their authority of allocating
land to either investors or slum residents," she said. She added
that so far, most evictions involved state property.

Further justification for eviction can be found in a 1975
decree from the Ministry of Home Affairs, which rules that the
government can own land.

This authorizes the government to buy the land -- also for
private interests -- giving residents low compensation on the
grounds that state land is to be used for public interests.

"The decree contradicts the Agrarian Law and the 1945
Constitution," she said.

The Constitution says that the state has authority over vital
resources such as land, which is elaborated as having authority
to manage and distribute land under the 1960 Agrarian Law.

Sandyawan from the Jakarta Social Institute cited eviction
methods ranging from, for example, a sudden attack with a
bulldozer in Plumpang, North Jakarta in 1975 to "more
sophisticated" methods now being used.

Indications of these methods include practices of buying off
property by seemingly individual parties and disappearances of
people to whom slum residents submit regular payments, often with
their money and necessary papers.

The Institute's data shows reports of "unexplained fires" in
slum areas and suspected cooperation between local authorities
and private investors. Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has repeatedly
denied any possibility of arson in slum areas.

None of the evictions involved adequate meetings with
residents to inform them of the plans.

"Hurried meetings with residents near the time of eviction
only result in responses colored by panic, and a feeling of no
other choice," Sandyawan said.

The problem of inhabitants' temporary residence, the education
of their children and their income sources are not adequately
addressed in eviction plans, he added.

Baharuddin Lopa, Secretary-General of the National Commission
for Human Rights, said the Commission has been receiving an
increasing number of complaints concerning eviction.

Mainly caused by a gap in interests, the urgent need for land
makes people impatient to bring cases to court, he said.

The Commission always recommends that the government
accommodate the interests of the people, he said.

"But the people often lack possession of legal documents,
which are so substantial," Baharuddin said. (14/anr)