Residents by Senen Railway Tracks Share Their Story: Shaking Hands with Prabowo in the Afternoon, Homes Demolished in the Morning
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Satiah (55) and Sri (42) were sitting enjoying packed rice under a kersen tree by the railway tracks next to Gaplok Market, Kramat Ward, Senen Subdistrict, Central Jakarta, when they were met by Kompas.com on Friday (27/3/2026).
About three metres from where they were sitting, long-distance trains (KA) and commuter rail trains (KRL) passed by one after another.
The noisy sounds of the KA and KRL came and went, but Satiah and Sri seemed unperturbed. The two were busy devouring their meal.
Two portions of packed rice, each with cassava leaf vegetable and fried egg, were opened in front of Sri and Satiah. Not far from them, a one-litre bottle of mineral water was visible.
“Sorry, we’re eating first, we’re tired from packing up after the eviction,” she continued.
Meanwhile, on the right and left of where Satiah and Sri were eating, remnants of household items were scattered about.
There were buckets, ladles, piles of foam mattresses, tarps, stacks of cloth, dozens of mineral water gallons, and plastic rubbish mixed with pieces of wood strewn across the ground.
On the eastern side across the tracks, piles of climbing plants, shrubs, and undergrowth that had just been cut and left at the site were visible. Those piles of plants were wilting in the hot sun.
After eating, Satiah and Sri recounted their experience meeting President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday afternoon (27/3/2026).
According to Sri, when the President arrived at the railway embankment around 5:00 p.m. WIB, she and Satiah were resting.
“We were lying down. We were tired from scavenging. Then suddenly there was a crowd, what was that? Everyone was heading north, we thought someone had been hit by a train,” Sri said.
“We followed to see, and when we got closer, there was the President. We recognised Mr Prabowo’s face, so we ran to join the queue to shake hands,” she explained.
Since arriving in Jakarta, she has lived on the Senen railway embankment in a makeshift shack made of planks.