Govt. determined to build apartments for Tebet fire victims.
Govt. determined to build apartments for Tebet fire victims.
JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta mayoralty will stick to its
plan to build low-cost apartments for Tebet fire victims at the
fire site despite the victims' strong objections.
"We are committed to improving their standard of living by
providing them with decent places to live because the (fire site)
area is always inundated by floods during the rainy season and
burns frequently during the dry season," Zainuddin, deputy to the
South Jakarta mayor, told reporters yesterday.
Zainuddin is at present acting as South Jakarta's mayor
pending the return of Mayor Pardjoko from the haj pilgrimage in
Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The deputy mayor made the remarks following reports that the
fire victims had turned down a proposal from the South Jakarta
mayoralty to build apartment buildings at the fire site. The
proposal was forwarded by the mayoralty officials at a meeting
with representatives of the fire victims on Saturday evening.
Some 230 houses in the West Tebet subdistrict were gutted by
fire Wednesday, leaving around 1,000 people homeless.
"We are happy to live in our own houses although they are
crowded. There's no guarantee that life in an apartment will be
more comfortable. Thus, let us rebuild our burned premises,"
Tumar, chief of the neighborhood, was quoted by Pos Kota as
saying during the meeting.
Zainuddin said yesterday the mayoralty administration will
continue to try to convince the fire victims that it would be
better for them to live in an apartment building than in shanties
like the ones they had before. "With persuasion we believe our
efforts to convince them will pay off in the end," he said.
The plans to build apartments on the fire site do not at all
conflict with the 1985-2005 city master plan since the area was
designated to be a residential area since a maximum of 80 percent
of the land was left undeveloped, he said.
The fire site was part of around 7 hectares of land where the
former residents of the Senayan, Central Jakarta, district were
relocated in 1961 following the Sukarno administration's plan to
build the Senayan stadium.
Zainuddin also denounced any suspicions among the fire victims
that the fire was caused "intentionally."
"It is completely untrue. The fire occurred during the day.
Everybody could see for themselves where the fire came from," he
said.
Under the arrangement already devised by the municipality, he
said, each fire victim family would receive funds from the
mayoralty administration to be used for renting houses pending
the construction of the planned apartments.
Zainuddin said he still has no idea about the amount of the
funds, although Idroes, the deputy governor in charge of
administrative affairs, was quoted by local papers as saying the
amount will be Rp 500,000 (US$232) per year.
Zainuddin, said the mayoralty is presently giving top priority
to humanitarian aid programs for the homeless fire victims.
The fire victims are now living with their families, neighbors
or in temporary shelters built by the authority near the fire
site. (jsk)