Residents' Homes on Kalideres Cemetery Land Demolished by Force Using Heavy Machinery

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Residents’ homes still standing on land belonging to the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government cemetery in RT 02 RW 07 Kamal, Kalideres, West Jakarta, were forcibly demolished on Monday (24/7/2023). This forced eviction was carried out to return the land as a government asset to be developed into a new public cemetery (TPU). Based on observations by Kompas.com at the location, an orange excavator was deployed to level the residents’ buildings that were still standing. In another corner of the area that had been levelled, piles of residents’ belongings from the execution were visible. Various household items such as mattresses, plastic stacked wardrobes, refrigerators, electric fans, and piles of clothes were moved outside the homes, right on top of the rubble from the houses. These items were guarded by several resigned residents, assisted by officers in orange uniforms from the Public Facilities and Infrastructure Handling (PPSU). The cries of residents whose homes were destroyed coloured the land eviction action from Monday morning. Before the heavy machinery entered and levelled the area, the situation at the location had heated up and was marked by commotion. Residents who strongly opposed the execution had put up rejection banners. Arguments between residents and officials could not be avoided. The situation was gradually brought under control, although the residents were forced to accept the eviction. Kalideres Sub-District Head Raditian Ramajaya explained that the land execution was indeed scheduled for today. “Yes, that’s right, this morning we all saw that the residents still wanted to hold on to their homes that they have lived in for so long, even though they must realise that this is government land,” Raditian told journalists at the location on Monday. According to him, from the beginning, the residents had been given a deadline to demolish voluntarily or follow relocation until Sunday (5/4/2026).