Komnas Anak urges city to save toll-road schools

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.