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.