It's time to move on

Night is no longer peaceful for some residents of the city. Yet it's not the fear of burglaries that plague the city's affluent enclaves that is keeping them in a state of insecurity.

At any time, they may find themselves evicted from their homes and forced to move on.

The most recent mass eviction -- on a 15-hectare plot in Tanjung Duren Selatan subdistrict, West Jakarta -- left some 1,000 people homeless. An earlier operation in Jembatan Besi demolished 1,700 houses and one in Kampung Baru, Cengkareng, led to the razing of 1,500 dwellings.

This week, hundreds of fishermen living along the banks of the Muara Angke River in North Jakarta, where these photos were taken, were forced to leave their homes, adding to the tally of "victims" of the city administration's plan to clear slum areas throughout Jakarta.

As squatters, they do not have a legal right to stand on, and the city can argue that it has provided compensation to some of them, even if it's an amount equal to a shopping trip to Hero for more affluent Jakarta residents.

Sure, the city may look prettier now, but at what price for those among us left without a roof over their heads?

-- Text and photos by R. Berto Wedhatama