Kori's Story: A Resident Affected by the Pegadungan Public Cemetery Eviction Who Now Lives Comfortably in Flats

JAKARTA - The relieved and happy expression on the face of Kori Temu (38), a resident who previously lived on the land of the public cemetery owned by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government in RW 04 Pegadungan, Kalideres, West Jakarta, could not be hidden.

Kori was one of the residents affected by the eviction because the settlement land she occupied was to be developed into a new cemetery, namely TPU Pegadungan.

She participated in the first phase relocation programme from the West Jakarta City Government on 10 February 2026.

For Kori, her move to the Tegal Alur Flats was initially a threat, but it has now turned into something like a fulfilled prayer.

“My old house was in the rice fields, just a simple shack, behind the Citra 5 complex, really on rice field land,” said Kori when met by Kompas.com at the Tegal Alur Flats on Wednesday (1/4/2026).

This woman, a migrant from Kupang, recounted that she first came to Jakarta in 2008 and worked as a domestic assistant or housemaid.

She then met her husband, who works as a school security guard, got married, and had two children now aged 12 and 7 years.

Economic pressures and meagre income led this small family to move from a rented room and build a makeshift house on the vacant land 13 years ago.

The environmental conditions there were very concerning. Kori said her house often flooded when it rained, the roads were muddy and slippery, and the groundwater was salty.

She even had to fetch water from the nearest public facility if she wanted clean water from PAM Jaya.

The limited house conditions even made her children feel ashamed if school friends wanted to visit to play.

When she first received the land eviction notice from the government, Kori admitted she was shocked and stressed.

At that time, she only learned that the land she had occupied for over a decade was actually state property and would soon be developed into a cemetery.