Evictions to carry over into 2004

Evictions to carry over into 2004

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

More than 2,500 families will be evicted from their houses along
Jl. Tanah Merah, Rawa Badak subdistrict, North Jakarta, and
Pinang Ranti subdistrict, East Jakarta, in January.

Taheri Noor, deputy chairman of the monitoring sub-commission
at the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said on
Wednesday that prior to the eviction, Komnas HAM and related
institutions had had meetings to discuss ways to prevent any
gross violations of human rights in the process of the evictions.

"We will have more meetings on Dec. 29 to discuss the eviction
plans in both areas," he said.

The land on Jl. Tanah Merah is owned by state oil company PT
Pertamina. During the economic crisis that hit the country in mid
1997, Pertamina allowed people in the neighborhood to grow
vegetables on the land. With time, the farmland gradually changed
into squatter housing.

"We have to discuss the eviction process very carefully
because the area, occupied by the squatters, is within
Pertamina's Plumpang fuel depot," Taheri said. "Security is of
paramount concerns here."

Around 2,400 families will have to leave the land.

Taheri said that Pertamina wanted to clear the land to secure
the fuel supply in the capital.

Jakarta receives fuel from Balongan refinery, West Java,
through container ships berthed in a special harbor in Tanjung
Priok, North Jakarta. The fuel is later kept in the Plumpang fuel
depot. Any conflict occurring near the depot could cause a halt
in the fuel supply throughout the city.

Komnas HAM has invited officials from Pertamina, the Office of
the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, the
Office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, the
National Land Agency (BPN) and the Ministry of Settlement and
Regional Infrastructure to attend the Dec. 29 meeting.

The land in Pinang Ranti is said to be owned by the Jakarta
Military District Command. A total of 111 families currently
occupy the land.

"There is a plan to build a hospital on the land to replace a
hospital in Kramat area which has to move," Taheri said.

Komnas HAM has invited the squatters' lawyers, officials from
the Jakarta Military District Command and the BPN to a meeting to
discuss the eviction.

"Komnas HAM will be mediating in the meeting to help the
negotiation between the various parties," he said.

Komnas HAM had held three meetings before on the eviction
plan.

The meetings were the result of last month's meeting between
Komnas HAM and Governor Sutiyoso to discuss the concept of "more
humane evictions".

The city administration has been slammed for its intensive
evictions this year, which have left more than 5,000 families
homeless.