Municipality found guilty

JAKARTA: The Central Jakarta municipality and the state-owned railway company PT KAI were found guilty on Wednesday of failing to "professionally" evict slum residents from under a railway bridge in Central Jakarta two years ago.

The verdict was presented by judge Andi Samsan Nganro of the Central Jakarta District Court, who heard the lawsuit claim by 43 slum residents representing 300 families.

The court ordered the municipality and PT KAI to pay the former Karang Anyar residents for Rp 30 million in material losses and Rp 20.5 million for non-material losses.

According to the judge, the accused had failed to conduct the eviction "professionally".

Gatot Sudarto, a slum resident who acted as the group's lawyer, said that the verdict was fair enough even though the residents had demanded Rp 279 million compensation for material losses and Rp 1 billion for non-material loss.

But other residents, who packed the courtroom, expressed their dissatisfaction over the verdict. During proceedings one of them spat toward Evilia, a lawyer representing the municipality.

After the hearing, a woman carrying a baby hit Evilia's head with her shoe. Evilia, who was answering reporters, looked shocked but gave no response.

The Central Jakarta mayoralty had demolished a slum under a railway bridge between Sawah Besar and Mangga Besar in Nov. 6, 2000 considering that living under the bridge would endanger the residents lives. --JP