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.