Misinformation to the contrary - no rebuilding in Tebet
JAKARTA (JP): City councilors criticized city officials, yesterday, over their conflicting remarks about the planning of Tebet fire site.
"There is no consistency over the site planning of the area. Some officials say it is designated to be a green zone, others say it is for houses with large portions of undeveloped soil. This conflicting information hasn't just confused the fire victims, it has also confused us," said Sutarno, chairman of the City Council's commission on agrarian affairs during the commission's inspection into the fire site yesterday.
After a fire destroyed approximately 230 houses in the South Jakarta subdistrict on Wednesday, several city top officials gave conflicting remarks about the future of the land.
For example, Deputy to South Jakarta Mayor Zainuddin said on Monday that, according to the city master plan, the one-hectare fire site was slated for low-coefficient premises. This means that housing may be built, providing that 80 percent of the land is left undeveloped.
Because of that stipulation, said Zainuddin, the mayoralty plan of building low-cost apartment buildings on the fire site did not conflict with the law.
However, Harun Al Rasyid, secretary of the city administration, said the area was part of a green zone in the subdistrict. Thereby, he said, the municipality would fence the area in with barbed wire, barring the fire victims from rebuilding their premises.
In exchange for the loss of the land, the municipality would build an apartment complex for the fire victims close to the fire site, which was categorized as a slum area.
Governor Surjadi Soedirdja is now making official visits to some foreign countries and was unavailable for comment.
The fire victims, which number 1,000, have turned down the plan, preferring to rebuild on the land where they have lived for decades after being moved from Senayan district in 1961.
The relocation followed the construction of Senayan stadium.
Sutarno said yesterday the unwillingness of the fire victims to accept the apartment plan partly resulted from the conflicting remarks from city officials on the future of the area.
"Thus, we'll not discuss the apartment plan before the fate of the fire site is clear," said Sutarno.
Sutarno added the commission would ask members of the executive branches to hold a hearing with the City Council in the near future about the case.
Soeharto
The visit to the fire site was preceded by a hearing between the commission and some representatives of the fire victims, led by the neighborhood leader Tumar, at the City Council.
More than one hundred of the fire victims were waiting for the councilors when they arrived at the fire site and immediately engaged them in a fiery discussion.
Tebet district chief Santoso RA and West Tebet subdistrict chief Imran M. Hasan were present at the meeting.
Some of the fire victims then hoisted the national red-white flag and tried to hang framed pictures of President Soeharto and Vice President Try Sutrisno on a beam suspended atop a burned house.
The area residents immediately took down the pictures at the request of Sutarno, who appeared angry with their action.
Some representatives of the fire victims who talked with the councilors insisted that they were unwilling to live in apartments. The representatives expressed themselves with strong words which drew the applause of fellow fire victims.
They said they rejected the apartment plan because they could not afford all the expenses that it entailed, including the rent payments, high water bills, etc.
"Formerly, we did not have to pay rent because we lived in our own houses," said one fire victim.
Sutarno dismissed the fire victims, saying they did not understand the plan. He added that the apartment would belong to them and, as such, they did not have to pay rent.
"It's clear to me that the fire victims have not been given accurate information on the apartment plan or the site planning of their area. That's why they blindly oppose the apartment plan," Sutarno told reporters. (jsk)