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)