Order agency shifts target, demolishes 200 shanties

Order agency shifts target, demolishes 200 shanties

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Around 500 officials from the City Public Order Agency began
demolishing at least 200 shanties along the West Flood Canal in
Pejagalan subdistrict, North Jakarta on Wednesday.

They changed the target after failing to demolish the
remaining 400 permanent buildings at the Kalijodo brothel and
gambling den complex, located 500 meters north of the shanties, a
day earlier.

Squatters, who has been living there, were unaware of the
officials' sudden arrival.

One of the officials, Agus, said the eviction -- the fifth
carried out by the agency since 2001 -- had to go on even though
its target had changed.

"The officials have gathered here. If we don't demolish
Kalijodo then we have to do something else -- demolishing the
shanties," he said, adding that the shanties established on
state land did not obstruct the flow of the nearby canal some
seven meters away.

Based on observations by The Jakarta Post, the area adjacent
to Kalijodo -- home to one of three notorious gangsters -- is one
that has obstructed the canal the most.

However, the agency has yet to take any action to demolish
buildings there, saying it will be carried out as one operation
with the Kalijodo demolition.

"We'll demolish all illegal shanties along the canal. Kalijodo
is not our top priority. Nevertheless, it will be demolished
soon," said Pejagalan subdistrict chief, W. Budiyono.

The squatters could only curse out loud while the officials
ransacked their houses. Eko, whose shanty dwelling has been
cleared five times, condemned the demolition and said he had lost
all hope of trying to keep his place intact or get compensation.

"I and 600 other residents will picket the Komnas HAM
(National Commission for Human Rights) office tomorrow. We won't
move until Komnas HAM manages to find a solution to our problem,"
he said angrily.