Making a home under the roar of traffic

Making a home under the roar of traffic

Jakarta has its fancy skyscrapers, luxurious cars and posh
shopping malls. That is the charmed life for the lucky few: Many
others barely scrape by, finding a "roof" over their heads
wherever they can.

Despite warnings to leave from the Jakarta administration, the
Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure as well as
toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, the people living under the
overpass in Jembatan Tiga area in North Jakarta are staying put
and continuing their daily routine.

After being evicted from many places before, it's hard for the
residents, most of them scavengers barely eking out a living, to
find another place they can call home. For them, in their present
circumstances and with no viable alternative, staying under the
overpass will have to do.

-- Text and photos by P.J. Leo