Government to build low-cost homes for squatters

Government to build low-cost homes for squatters

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure will build
barracks as temporary shelters for 1,546 families living under
Rawa Bebek elevated toll road in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, as
the city administration prepares to rid the area of slums.

"The shelters should be ready before the deadline of April 30
for the squatters to leave the area," said Sjarifuddin Akil, the
director general of the ministry's housing and settlement office.

It is feared that temporary housing under an overpass or
elevated road weakens its structure.

Sjarifuddin said the ministry would not use force to move the
squatters.

"That's why we will build a number of barracks, the capacity
of which would be in accordance with the existing number of
squatters," he was quoted as saying by Antara news portal on
Tuesday.

He added the site of the proposed barracks was close to the
Penjaringan toll gate and areas in which the squatters worked.
The compound would also be equipped with public facilities, such
as water and schools.

However, he added, only squatters who lived along the part of
the toll road that passes Penjaringan and Penjagalan subdistricts
would be eligible for accommodation.

To replace the barracks with proper housing, the ministry will
construct 10 rows of low-cost apartments for the squatters within
the next four years.

"Only 1,000 families would be accommodated in the low-cost
apartments, as we hope that the rest of them will return to their
cities of origin," Sjarifuddin said.

He said his ministry would carry out the construction, while
the Jakarta administration would pick the location.

Besides the ministry's project, the Jakarta Housing Agency
plans to build 1,100 low-cost apartment units this year.

Critics deem low-cost apartments an unsuitable option for
housing the poor. They say that the number of families made
homeless after a string of evictions in the last two years far
outweighs the number of available apartments.

Non-governmental organization Urban Poor Consortium predicted
that at least 8,500 families would be evicted this year. A total
of 8,715 homeless families were evicted last year.

Also on Tuesday, at least 200 evicted residents from Tanjung
Duren, West Jakarta, staged a rally at the Ministry of Social
Affairs in Matraman, East Jakarta, and the Office of the
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare on Jl. Merdeka Barat
in Central Jakarta.

"We demand those ministers fulfill their promise to construct
cheap houses for the evictees," said rally coordinator Marlo
Sitompul.

Jusuf Kalla -- who recently resigned from his post as
coordinating minister to contest the presidential election -- had
earlier promised that the government would use the funds
allocated for purchasing assets owned by the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency to construct a million low-cost houses for
the poor.