Kedoya residents ask for payment

Kedoya residents ask for payment

JAKARTA (JP): Residents of the Kedoya Utara subdistrict in
West Jakarta complained at the National Commission on Human
Rights yesterday about not receiving any compensation for the
demolition of their homes by public order officers.

Soepadmo, one of the eight people representing about 700
families, said that since the demolition of their houses in 1995,
the residents had lived in tents and makeshift houses.

"Without any prior discussion we were ordered to move before
the public order officers, assisted by both police and military
personnel, demolished our houses," he said.

The demolished houses, on Jl. Garden Baru and Jl. Suka Indah
in the Kebon Jeruk district, had accommodated about 5,000 people.

The residents said they bought the seven-hectare plot at an
average price of Rp 25,000 (US$9.6 at current rates) per square
meter in 1986.

But the West Jakarta Mayoralty claimed later that the land
belonged to the Tangerang irrigation office and wanted to turn
the land into a park, they said.

The residents said they would leave if given Rp 500,000 per
square meter of their land and compensation of between Rp 200,000
and Rp 400,000 per square meter for their houses. (jun)