North Jakarta families protest against demolition
JAKARTA (JP): More than a hundred North Jakarta residents whose houses were destroyed by security officers demonstrated at the North Jakarta mayoralty office yesterday.
The residents, claiming to represent 484 families, complained to Mayor Suprawito, who received them, that they were evicted without prior talks about compensation.
"Aside from the compensation, the officers, many armed with guns, arrived without advanced notice and immediately demolished our houses," recalled Amir. S, one of the homeowners.
The protesters are mostly scavengers living in makeshift structures on a 10-hectare site on Jl. Cilincing Cakung, East Semper, North Jakarta. They claimed that the true owner of the land, Haji Asmuni, had allowed them to occupy the land.
"We have been there since 1980 when it was still a swamp," said Amir, adding that now that they have reclaimed the land other parties suddenly declared themselves to be the lawful landowners.
Amir, who, like most of the protesters, wore threadbare shorts and an old shirt but no footwear, not even thongs, claimed that there must be something wrong with the land agency which issued land certificates to different people.
Meanwhile, Yopie Sigar, the lawyer who is representing five people who claim to be the lawful landowners, said that his clients purchased the land from Haji Achmad bin Jamuri, who was in possession of an authentic land ownership certificate.
Yopie's clients are members of the MKGR, an organization under the Golkar ruling political grouping.
"We will rebuild the houses if Haji Asmuni is proven to be the real owner of the land," Yopie assured.
Mayor Suprawito, who is responsible for the land appropriation as recommended by the head of MKGR/Minister for Women's Roles, Mien Sugandhi, asked the people whether they still wished to go to court to prove Haji Asmuni's ownership of the land. He warned them that if the court decided against them, they would not receive any compensation.
"Or else you can accept compensation of Rp 50,000 per family as offered by the new landowners," he told the protesters.
"We will go to court," the people shouted in unison in response to his offer.
Losing end
Meanwhile Yopie told reporters that the protesters will be on the losing end if they decide to bring the case to court since the law will prove that his clients are the legitimate land owners.
He added that his clients could increase the compensation payment if the mayor asked them to do so.
However, he declined to reveal the payment ceiling.
"Moreover, as far as I can tell they only began to occupy the land last year," he said.
He added that his clients will build a factory on the disputed land, but declined to mention the type of factory.
Yopie said that his clients are Darsono, Nurhayin Aziz, Herman Supriyanto, Tamin S and Hokiarto.
According to Yopie, the 484 buildings occupying the land consist of 183 permanent houses, 271 makeshift structures and 30 others which were still under construction.
The protest yesterday resulted in the protesters signing an agreement relinquishing their right to demand compensation should they lose the case in court. The agreement also stipulates that if they win, the five people who claim to be the new owners of the land will rebuild their houses.
The signing of the agreement was ordered by Mayor Suprawito, who argued that it would speed up the settlement of the dispute. (05)