Jembatan Besi squatters face eviction

JAKARTA: Thousands of shanties sheltering squatters in Gang Soang, Jembatan Besi, West Jakarta, are scheduled to be knocked down soon, Tambora subdistrict head Mashuri said on Sunday.

He said his office had told the squatters to vacate the area, but they insisted on staying.

Mashuri said the area is owned by PT Cakrawira Bumi Mandala, a construction company.

"We have tried to get the squatters and company representatives to sit down for negotiations, but to no avail, even though the company has expressed its willingness to provide them with compensation," he was quoted as saying by the Beritajakarta news portal.

The eviction, Mashuri said, would be conducted by West Jakarta Public Order officers in coordination with the Tambora Police.

West Jakarta Mayor Sarimun Hadisaputra said earlier that his office gave the defiant squatters one week to leave the area, otherwise they would be evicted by force.

Diding, a deputy director of Cakrawira, said that his company had legal grounds for proving its ownership of the disputed land claim in Jembatan Besi, including a land use document issued on April 20, 1995 by Governor Surjadi Soedirdja.

The area will become the site of a shopping center.

Diding said the squatters began occupying the 5.5 hectare area in 1998 amid the country's economic crisis.--JP