Karet residents upset over unfair land compensation

Karet residents upset over unfair land compensation

JAKARTA (JP): Forty residents of Karet Tengsin, Central
Jakarta, have requested the National Commission on Human Rights
mediate between them and the city authorities about what they
claim is unfair land compensation.

The residents' spokesman told The Jakarta Post before being
received by a Commission official that local residents had
refused to accept compensation offered by the mayoralty because
it was too low compared to that paid by a private company to
people living nearby.

Pulungan, the spokesman, said the authorities only offered
them Rp 250,000 per square meter, whereas the other group of
people had been paid Rp 1.5 million per square meter by PT Jaya
Realty. According Pulungan, PT Jaya Realty is constructing
apartments in the area.

"How could land in the same area be valued differently?"
Pulungan asked.

He said mayoralty officials told them that there was no way to
increase the rate of compensation because it is in line with the
regulation.

According to Pulungan, the officials told them they would have
to leave the area by the end of the month. This is to pave the
way for the widening of a road which passes the kampong and for
the betterment of the area along the Krukut River bank, according
to Pulungan.

Pulungan said the majority of 160 families living along Krukut
River are low-paid construction workers. The rest are taxi
drivers and sidewalk vendors.

He said the residents had lived there since 1960 and their
houses were built legally.

"Therefore, even though we do not have any certificates for
our land we deserve fair compensation."

He said the people did not understand why the authorities had
taken over the responsibility of appropriating the lands when a
private company had been appointed to do so.

This is against the law, he said.

"We need the government's understanding that one would not
survive with the amount of money without a home," a local
housewife said.

Pulungan said the residents had registered complaints with
the city council and city administration but that there had been
no follow up.

Meanwhile P.L. Tobing, an expert staff of the Commission on
Human Rights, who received the delegation, told the Post that he
had promised to help the residents.

He said he would send a letter to Jakarta governor requesting
the postponement of land appropriation. Tobing said he would also
arrange a meeting between the residents and the authorities.
(03)