Govt told to keep promise to provide low-cost homes

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government must revive its long-forgotten commitment to provide houses for the low-income bracket, instead of bowing to commercial interests and evicting the poor people, said urban expert Marco Kusumawijaya.

"The Cengkareng eviction at (state-run housing company) Perum Perumnas' land has highlighted a waning commitment in providing affordable housing," Marco told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"Until the 1980s, Perumnas was successful in providing low- cost housing for people. But as Cendana's interests began to interfere with the property business, the commitment has worn thin," he said, referring to the interests of former president Soeharto's family and cronies.

The lack of new residential areas within the capital has forced people to buy homes on the outskirts, in the areas of Tangerang, Bekasi, Depok and Bogor, or on the perimeter of Greater Jakarta.

Marco said that Jakarta, as one of the fastest growing cities in the country, also had a responsibility to provide job for poor people from the countryside.

"Data in recent years show that Jakarta has experienced negative migration, meaning the number of people entering the city is fewer than those leaving it," he said.

Those entering Jakarta are mostly poor people driven out of their villages from the scarcity of work, who come to look for jobs in the informal sector in Jakarta.

"Apparently, the administration is afraid that the city will become overrun by the poor and have decided to take the easiest way out -- by evicting them -- hoping they will return to their home villages," he said.

However, the easiest way is not necessarily the effective way.

Edi Saidi, a community organizer at the Urban Poor Consortium, said many evicted residents refused to return to the villages.

"Look at the evicted residents from Jembatan Besi, West Jakarta, and Teluk Gong, North Jakarta, who prefer to build makeshift houses in other places instead of leaving the city," Edi told the Post.

"Of course, some of them did return to their villages, but within a week they were back in Jakarta again because they couldn't find jobs in their villages."

Edi, who helps evicted residents in dealing with the administration, said these evicted residents were living in a state of extreme poverty, which could push them toward petty crimes to make a little money.

"Eviction certainly does not solve anything," he stressed.

The administration has pledged to clear lands owned by private and state companies of "illegal" occupants before the start of the Muslim fasting month, which begins on Oct. 25.

About 200 families in Tegal Alur, West Jakarta, are the next to be evicted, followed by other target mayoralties in the capital.