Karet residents complain over land compensation
Karet residents complain over land compensation
JAKARTA (JP): Forty-five residents of the Karet Tengsin subdistrict in Central Jakarta filed a complaint yesterday with the city council over the compensation they have been offered for their land, which is to be cleared as part of the Krukut river normalization project.
The residents told the city council's Commission D, in charge of development affairs, that the Central Jakarta mayoralty had set the level of compensation without negotiating with the residents.
S. Siregar, the residents' leader, said that the mayoralty had offered those residents without land certificates or other documentation only Rp 249,000 (US$113.18) per square meter.
"The compensation for a square meter of land owned by those holding the necessary documents is set at Rp 941,000," he said, adding that semi-permanent and permanent buildings had been assessed as being worth Rp 85,000 and Rp 170,000, respectively, per square meter.
"This compensation is too small and if we accept it we will not be able to improve our welfare," he said.
Siregar said that, with the compensation offered, it would be impossible for the residents to move to other areas, given the high prices of land.
He said that most of the 350 families living the area did not have land certificates or other documents, meaning they would only receive a small amount of compensation, despite the fact that they had occupied the land for many years.
Moreover, he said, most of the resident had only small plots of land. Some residents had as little as 20 square meters, while others occupied 45 square meters, he said.
"This compensation offer is not consistent with the government's program to eradicate poverty. Instead, by setting a low level of compensation, the Central Jakarta mayoralty is creating more poverty," said Siregar, who has lived in the area since 1972.
He said the compensation offered was far lower than the going market price of land in the area which, he said, was about Rp 1.5 million per square meter.
The residents, who have been given two months time to vacate their homes, had asked the city council to help solve the problem, he said.
"All we want is proper prices so that we will not be poorer than we used to be," he said.
The city administration intends to rejuvenate the Krukut river by increasing its width from the present 24.5 meters to 30 meters.
The residents have questioned the administration's policy, noting that it is only eastern bank of the river which will be cleared, while western bank is to remain unaffected.
"We don't know why the administration is appropriating only the eastern side. I think it would be better if the project included the other side of the river, to make it fair," Siregar said.
The council's Commission D, headed by Bandjar Marpaung, said that it would urge officials of the Central Jakarta mayoralty to settle the case.
Meanwhile, a member of the commission, Saud Rachman, said the case should be investigated thoroughly to find out whether there was a scam.
"There are indications that a certain party has acted in the name of the mayoralty for the sake of its own benefit," Saud said.
He said that a developer had been appropriating land in the area by claiming that the residents had to leave as part of the project. (yns)