Indramayu offers housing to evicted fishermen's families

Indramayu offers housing to evicted fishermen's families

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fishermen evicted from the banks of Muara Angke River are to be
provided low-cost housing in Indramayu regency, West Java.

It is expected that the housing units will be ready in March.

Indramayu regent Irianto M.S. Syafiuddin has approved the
provision of a two-hectare vacant plot in Song Beach, Indramayu,
for the development of low-cost housing by the central government
for the 240 families.

"Each house will cost between Rp 6 million (US$706) and Rp 9
million," Syarifuddin Akil, the newly installed Director General
for Settlement and Housing at the Ministry of Settlement and
Regional Infrastructure, said over the weekend.

"Each family will repay their mortgages in daily installments
of between Rp 3,000 and Rp 5,000."

It will take about four years to repay the loan.

The houses are being provided especially for the families of
fisheremen belonging to the Traditional Fishermen's Union (SNT),
who have been seeking affordable shelter since they were evicted
last month.

The North Jakarta municipal administration evicted more than
1,000 families, most of whom had accepted the Rp 500,000
compensation offered to each family.

The North Jakarta administration has also promised to build
low-cost rental apartments for the evictees on a 4.5-hectare plot
in Muara Angke, but has not decided upon a specific timeframe.

"We were offered a choice between renting low-cost apartment
units in Muara Angke or buying low-cost houses in Indramayu. We
chose to buy homes," SNT chairman Kajidin told The Jakarta Post.

He said they had detailed information on the location of their
future homes, and that fishermen's relatives living near Song
Beach had told them that the area was accessible to public
transportation. There are also schools, a traditional market and
a fish market nearby.

The fishermen said they would move to Indramayu with their
families once the houses were ready, but did not intend to
restrict their fishing grounds to Indramayu, and would follow
their catch, even to Jakarta waters.

They also planned to maintain their union based in Jakarta.

"One of the SNT members lives at the nearby housing complex in
Muara Angke. We can use his house as our headquarters," Kajidin
said.

Despite the good news, the fishermen were still at a loss as
to how they could provide shelter for their families while
waiting for the houses to be built, as the North Jakarta
administration did not provide any temporary shelter.

"We haven't decided where we should wait. Some of us want to
wait here in Muara Angke, while others want to go on to
Indramayu," said Kajidin.

Following their eviction, the fishermen and their families
have been living aboard their boats, along all their belongings.

Some fishermen have built makeshift huts on the wreckage-
strewn land where their former huts stood.

With the Idul Fitri holiday just around the corner, some
fishermen with parents in Indramayu have decided to start their
holiday early. Others native to the area and those whose
relatives live close by, will celebrate Idul Fitri for the first
time on their boats.