Perumka evicts squatters in Tanah Abang

Perumka evicts squatters in Tanah Abang

JAKARTA (JP): Squatters along the Tanah Abang railway track
gave up their shanties yesterday to a demolition team backed by
80 military troops.

Unlike on previous occasions, the 50 huts along the tracks
were demolished without protests or tears.

The demolition team, made up of officials from the Tanah Abang
district and the state-owned railway company Perumka, asked the
military to back them up in case of resistance.

We informed them beforehand, said one Perumka official. As a
result, he said, the squatter families said they would not resist
the demolition, though many were reluctant to pull down their
huts in the hope that the demolition team would not arrive.

With the squatters on the sidelines and the military close at
hand, the demolition team got busy burning the residents' huts
and dragging their belongings.

However, Capt. SN Harahap, commander of the military troops,
gave the 100 or so squatters a chance to save their wooden beds,
boards, chicken coops, benches and even fences.

Nearby, neighboring families living in kampongs behind the
squatter area just watched the demolition while chatting with the
military officers.

Neneng, a 25-year-old squatter, told The Jakarta Post that she
was used to experiencing demolitions. "Perumka has demolished my
kiosk around ten times," she said with a gloomy face. "I don't
know if I can build it again. It depends on my husband."

"We have lived here for years," the mother of three children
said. "If they ask us to move away, where will we live?"

Another woman said she was lucky that she had moved several
months ago.

Capt. Harahap told the Post that the sub-district
administration had formally given the people advanced warning.

"We just destroyed and burnt the huts owned by the stubborn
people," he added.

A Perumka official denied claims that the land was being
cleaned up for an upcoming train visit by the Central Jakarta
Mayor.

"To make sure that there would by no more slum areas along the
tracks we demolished the huts," he said.

According to the official, the mayor will travel from Gambir
to Tanah Abang and Manggarai.

Djinandir, another Perumka official, said he believed that the
squatters would soon rebuild their huts.

"To prevent them from doing so, we will ask several staff
members to watch over them," he added. (05)