Fishermen refuse city's offer of compensation

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hundreds of fishermen living on the banks of the Muara Angke River in Pluit, North Jakarta, rejected on Monday an offer from the North Jakarta administration to compensate them with money as it plans to evict the fishermen from their makeshift houses on Tuesday.

The administration offered the residents Rp 1 million (US$117.65) each in compensation if they willingly demolished their houses.

But, Kajidin, chairman of the Traditional Fishermen Union (SNT) said, "We decided to stay here because we have nowhere else to go." His family has lived in the area for more than 20 years.

Around 40 representatives of the fishermen visited the municipality office to meet Mayor Effendi Anas over the administration's plan to evict around 2,000 makeshift houses on the Muara Angke riverbank. The fishermen demanded that the municipality postpone the eviction plan until they could find another place to live.

"The municipality secretary met us today and said that if we leave our homes the city will provide us with low-cost apartments," Kajidin said.

The municipality secretary, Agus Salim Utut, did not provide the fishermen with details of the apartment's location nor when they would be available.

"So far we can only try to accommodate their demands. We don't have any deals with the residents," he said.

Kajidin said that the fishermen refused the offer because they did not know the exact location of the apartments.

"We have to live nearby rivers and the sea because we work from boats. I suspect the apartment offer is an empty offer as he (the secretary) couldn't tell us the location," he said.

The fishermen received a final notice from the administration on Saturday, warning them to vacate the area within 72 hours.

They also questioned the administration's policy which allowed the construction of two elite housing complexes, Pantai Indah Kapuk in the west and Pantai Mutiara in the east, on nearby water catchment areas.

Pantai Indah Kapuk was blamed for the flooding of surrounding areas in last year massive floods as it was built on a mangrove forest, while Pantai Mutiara was constructed on a reclamation area.

For Kajidin, the scheduled Tuesday eviction will be particularly hard. He explained, "As a child, my family lived in Ancol (North Jakarta) coastal area before the city administration evicted us to build the Marina." The family then moved to Muara Karang riverbank but were again evicted. In 1977, Kajidin started his own family and moved to live on the banks of the Muara Angke river but he now faces eviction for the third time.