Kebon Sayur Residents Besiege Kapuk Sub-district Office Over Land Dispute

More than a hundred residents of Kebon Sayur held a demonstration in front of the Kapuk Sub-district Office, Cengkareng District, West Jakarta, on Wednesday. The protest, which began around 9:00 a.m. local time, saw the crowd deliver speeches on Jalan Raya Kapuk and block part of the road, temporarily disrupting traffic flow in the area. The demonstrators brought various paraphernalia, including banners expressing their protests, and briefly set fires in front of the sub-district office. Dozens of resident representatives were subsequently received for an audience with members of the Cengkareng District Leadership Coordination Forum and Kapuk Sub-district officials. During the meeting, residents demanded that the Kapuk Sub-district Chief sign a letter of physical control over the land they occupy. Responding to this, Imron, Assistant for Economic Affairs and Development of the West Jakarta Municipal Government, stated that signing a physical control letter could not be done because the land status remains in dispute. ‘It cannot be done. Because that is physical control, and the land is still in a state of dispute. There is still Pertamina, there is Herawati,’ Imron said when confirmed in Jakarta on Wednesday. Imron referred to Government Regulation Number 24 of 1997, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency Regulation Number 3 of 1997, and Minister of ATR/BPN Regulation Number 16 of 2021. During the audience between residents and government officials, the Sub-district Chief was pressured to sign a number of the residents’ demands. ‘Because if the residents are said to physically control the land, and the Sub-district Chief is told to make a statement of physical control, it is impossible for the Sub-district Chief to sign that,’ Imron said. Imron added that the situation is now conducive. For the next steps, the West Jakarta Municipal Government is still coordinating on the matter. ‘The final decision requested the Sub-district Chief to draft a letter of meeting outcomes,’ Imron explained.