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)