Fishermen families evicted for fourth time

Fishermen families evicted for fourth time

Bambang Nurbianto and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least 25 families of 50 evicted fishermen in Ancol Timur
survived on their boats on Sunday after the North Jakarta
municipality demolished their houses a day earlier.

"We will discuss the possibility that the evictees receive
priority in getting some of the low-cost apartments that are
being developed by the city administration," Hermawanto of
Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta), the lawyer of the
evicted fishermen, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Earlier on Saturday, for the fourth time in seven years, about
50 fishermen and their families, some 160 people, were evicted by
the city public order officers from their makeshift homes in
Ancol Timur on Saturday morning.

During the eviction, the only land access to the site was
blocked by heavily armed military troops along with officers from
the public order agency.

The only way to reach the site was by boat, ironically, from
nearby Ancol Dreamland Park.

When LBH Jakarta activists arrived at the site, all their
plywood and fiberglass houses had been burned down by the
officers.

Hermawanto said that the fishermen were distraught, as they
had nowhere to stay.

Most took their families to stay on their boats while, as of
Sunday, access to the land was blocked by a group of unidentified
men.

Some of them were decided to stay temporarily at the LBH
Jakarta office on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta.

According to Hermawanto, the fishermen -- who originally are
from Cirebon and Indramayu in West Java -- had been living in
Ancol Timur for nearly 30 years.

Saturday's eviction was the fourth for them. They were first
evicted in 1997 as the land they had occupied was to be used for
the north coast reclamation project. After moving to another site
in the area, they were evicted for a second time in 1999 for the
same reason. In 2001, they were also evicted, although they had
moved to another site.

The administration has been planning since 1995 to reclaim the
north coast and build a plush housing and business area.

The fishermen's class action suit against the administration
was rejected by the Jakarta State Administrative Court and the
Jakarta High Court since filing the class action suit in 1993.
They appealed to the Supreme Court but there has been no
decision.

Head of the North Jakarta public order office Toni Budiono
could not be reached for comment.

The LBH Jakarta questioned the administration's persistence in
going ahead with its reclamation plan of 2,500 hectares of the
northern coast although there are legal question marks.

The office of the State Minister of the Environment has
rejected the reclamation plan, fearing serious environmental
damage. The minister's office lost its legal battle but they
filed an appeal and the case is currently at the Jakarta High
Court.

LBH Jakarta activists also said that the fishermen were not
recognized by the country as they were not registered to vote in
last week's legislative election -- effectively disenfranchising
them.

Separately in West Jakarta, 38 evicted residents of Tanjung
Duren Selatan, West Jakarta, who had recently sought shelter at
the National Commission on Human Rights office, were arrested by
the police for destroying private property.

About 300 people evicted from the land on Oct. 2, 2003, tore
down the wall surrounding the land close to Taman Anggrek Mall at
about 3 a.m. on Friday, in an attempt to reoccupy the land.