Foundation succeeds, city govt failed
Foundation succeeds, city govt failed
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"It is the nicest low-cost apartment I have ever seen in my
life," said Edi Suratno, a new resident in an apartment complex
built by Taiwan-based Buddha Tzu Chi foundation in East
Cengkareng, West Jakarta.
Until last Saturday, Suratno, 49, was still living on the
riverbank next to Angke river in Kapuk Muara, Penjaringan
subdistrict, North Jakarta.
Along with 380 families from the riverbank, he moved in to the
five-story apartment on Sunday where he lives in a 36-square-
meter unit on the ground floor.
Every apartment in the new building has a family room, two
bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and a small service area. Each
unit is fully furnished with a wooden bed, a bunk-bed and a
plastic table with six chairs.
The Suratno family -- who used to live in a tiny shack on
stilts on the river -- quickly fell in love with their new home.
"At first, all the residents in my neighborhood were reluctant
to move from Kapuk Muara. But after seeing the building and the
facilities, we changed our mind," the father of four, who had
lived in Kapuk Muara since 1980, told The Jakarta Post on
Wednesday.
He no longer has the fear of possible eviction conducted
regularly by the city public order agency.
To live in the apartments, each family is required to pay a
monthly rental fee of Rp 90,000 (US$11) plus utilities.
The apartment's property manager Rahman said that the
collected fee, amounted to a total of Rp 90 million, would be
used to help cover the maintenance costs at the complex for such
things as security, trash disposal and gardens.
The foundation also donates Rp 160 million per month for the
maintenance of the apartment complex.
Rahman said that the foundation's decision to charge residents
was only to create a sense of ownership and dignity.
"The Tzu Chi foundation planned to approve totally free
housing for the former riverbank squatters. But by charging them
a bit, they will be more responsible in maintaining their
apartments," he said.
The white-painted apartment building has an efficient
architectural design, making them totally distinctive from other
low-cost apartment buildings nearby.
The apartment complex also includes an elementary and a junior
high school as well as a two-story building for a community
health center.
Living in his new home has also given Suratno a chance to
reopen his food stalls on a plot of land designed to accommodate
vendors from the apartments. In the near future that land will be
turned into a three-story market available for residents to open
their businesses, Rahman said.
The foundation also promised to establish an cottage industry
to make garments in the complex to accommodate housewives with
sewing skills.
However, a question remains on Suratno's mind.
"We can't stop wondering, why was it an international Buddhist
foundation that finally decided to help us? Where have our fellow
citizens been or our own government?" he asked pointedly.
The city administration has built some low-cost apartment
complexes across the city but most have been resold by people to
richer people to for profits. The owners, some of them fire
victims, apparently preferred to sell and then rent cheaper
houses.
Rahman guaranteed that only underprivileged people, including
those who used to live on the riverbanks, would be eligible to
rent the apartments.
The apartment complex will soon accommodate 620 families from
Muara Angke riverbanks.
However, such good will has not always received good responses
from other locals. Around 400 other families in Kapuk Muara, who
are still facing eviction from the administration, remain
reluctant to give up their houses and move to the apartments.
They demand that the administration provide them with "fair
compensation" in cash.