Future of evicted residents still uncertain

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After four months of taking refuge at the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) compound, more than 200 evictees say they have nowhere else to go.

"We don't know how long we'll have to stay here. It appears that Komnas HAM is doing nothing for us," said Saifuddin, 50, who was evicted from Cengkareng Timur, West Jakarta.

Saifuddin told The Jakarta Post recently that he had no money or job with which to support his two children, aged two and four, and his pregnant wife, who is expected to give birth early February.

Saifuddin lived in Cengkareng Timur for five years and worked there as a small vendor until the West Jakarta municipality administration demolished his home, along with some 1,500 other homes, on Sept. 17, as requested by the land owner, state housing company Perum Perumnas.

"My only hope is that there will be donors who want to help my family," he said.

Saifuddin and other evicted people are sheltering in the Komnas HAM office's back yard close to a parking lot. They sleep on mattresses and reed mats.

They were evicted from areas in West Jakarta last year, such as Cengkareng Timur, Jembatan Besi and Tanjung Duren.

Toni Safari, also from Cengkareng Timur, said many of them were getting fed up.

"We came here in the first place to seek help from Komnas HAM, but I don't see the commission doing anything for us except letting us stay here," Toni told the Post.

Aid, particularly food, is running low, he added.

According to Toni, many of their children had been forced to become beggars or street singers to earn money to buy food.

Toni said he had not paid his child's fees for the private senior high school he attended. "I heard there was assistance for our children from the city administration, but I have not received any," he added.

He was referring to the administration's assistance for students whose parents are victims of eviction. The assistance was delivered through the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak).

Meanwhile, Solahuddin Wahid, a Komnas HAM deputy chairman, said the commission could do nothing to help the evictees as it had no power to force any parties to offer a solution, not even the city administration whose eviction policy had created the residents' plight.

"We can't allot money from our budget to prepare them daily meals. However, some commission members often distribute aid to the evictees individually," he told the Post.

According to non-governmental organization Urban Poor Consortium, 8,715 families were evicted in 2003, and this year alone, more than 8,500 other families will be evicted from homes built on state and disputed land.