Komnas Anak urges city to save toll-road schools

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak) urged the city administration to provide alternative sites for informal schools located under elevated toll roads in Jakarta following the administration's plan to clear the areas from squatters.

Komnas Anak chairman Seto Mulyadi said on Wednesday that the City Basic Education Agency has indicated that it will provide funds for the school's relocation, but so far an alternative site has not been found.

Seto handed over a total of Rp 76.80 million (US$9,035) in scholarships from the administration to 816 school children, from elementary to high school levels, at state junior high school 69 in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta.

The children were evicted from their houses in Cengkareng, Tanjung Duren and Tegal Alur in West Jakarta and Muara Angke and Sunter Jaya in North Jakarta.

"Komnas Anak is against any measures that neglect or harm the children's rights," he said. "I can understand if the administration wants to tidy up the city but don't start if their are no solutions to the resulting problems."

Some schools provided by non governmental organizations and individuals for the squatters will also be bulldozed to the ground.

Among them, a school for children of poor families located under Gedong Panjang toll gate on Prof. Sediyatmo toll road in Penjaringan, North Jakarta.

Another school, established by twin sisters Sri Rossianti and Sri Irianingsih, better known as Ibu Kembar (twin mothers), is located under the toll road in Ancol, North Jakarta.

These schools were founded to give poor children an education that they would otherwise have been denied. Their parents cannot afford to pay state-school fees, not to mention the purchase of books and stationery.

But the City Public Works Agency has expressed determination to clear all areas under elevated toll roads in Jakarta. Furthermore barriers will be erected around the areas to prevent the squatters from returning.

The agency argued that the day-to-day activities of squatters living under the toll road could harm the construction itself. It claimed that if a fire, for example, got out of control it would quickly spread, burning the makeshift houses and damaging the road also.

With 80 percent of the country's money circulating in the capital, Jakarta has become the last hope for those who cannot find jobs in their hometowns.

But the soaring price of land in the capital has forced the poor to shelter on vacant land, including areas under the elevated toll roads. Such areas have become crowded with squatters living and running small shops there.

Dozens of street vendors operating under a flyover in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, and in Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta, will also be evicted.

The public works agency has built brick walls to block squatters from entering areas under an elevated toll road in Pancoran, South Jakarta.