Many Tebet fire victims not entitled to apartment

Many Tebet fire victims not entitled to apartment

JAKARTA (JP): A city official said yesterday many West Tebet
fire victims would not be eligible for housing in the government
project being built on the site of their former homes.

Earlier area residents, who wanted to rebuild their homes,
were told that they would have to live in the government
apartments. This rankled many, prompting protests by the fire
victims. Now, ironically, it seems that some of them will not be
moving into the apartments after all.

M. Yanis, spokesman for the South Jakarta mayoralty, told The
Jakarta Post yesterday that a survey done by the mayoralty
administration on the fire victims showed that only 166 of the
230 families have verified "ownership" of the land through valid
documents.

Yanis said the rest leased the land. He added that while proof
of "ownership" is not really valid, since the state never
relinquished its title to the land, it will entitle the 166
families to priority at renting the new apartments and a Rp
400,000 (US$187) housing allowance.

The 64 families determined to have been renters will get the
cash, but not housing priority.

The Tebet residents were former residents of Senayan district
or newcomers who these original settlers sold out to. The tenants
of Senayan district were removed from their homes in 1961 to make
way for the construction of Senayan stadium.

They were then sent to live in and around six hectares of land
in West Tebet. Of this, more than one hectare was burned on May
11, leaving 1,039 members from 230 families homeless.

According to law, the "owners" are entitled to some damages
for the land despite its status of being owned by the state.

Yanis said a special city administration team would decide on
the amount of compensation each "owner" deserves.

"The monthly rent the people of this category will pay for the
apartment depends on the amount of damages they are eligible for.
If someone had a large plot, he or she may have to pay nothing,"
said Yanis.

According to Yanis, only seven families have picked up the
housing-rent allowance from West Tebet neighborhood since the
office started its distribution on Wednesday.

The allowance is provided by the city administration for the
victims to rent temporary houses elsewhere pending the completion
of the development of the apartment.

The residents earlier said the allowance was too low compared
to the high housing rent in Tebet district, which is known to be
among the most expensive areas in the city.

In a related development, acting South Jakarta mayor Zainuddin
accepted an aid package at his office yesterday, slated for the
fire victims. The aid was donated by the Gotong Royong
Humanitarian Foundation, chaired by first lady Tien Soeharto.

The package consisted of 1,200 sarongs and Rp 8.4 million
($3,192) for purchasing food for 1,200 people. (jsk)