Retired officers told to leave residences at Police HQ

Retired officers told to leave residences at Police HQ

JAKARTA (JP): The City police have instructed 13 families of
elderly, retired police officials to evacuate the official
residences they have occupied at the Jakarta Police Headquarters
for more than 20 years.

The City police declared that the official residences had been
allocated to currently active police officials who are in need of
homes.

According to Usman Hamid of the Commission for Missing Persons
and Victims of Violence (Kontras), all 13 families have received
written instruction to vacate their homes from City Police chief
Insp. Gen. Sofjan Yacob, dated May 31, 2001.

They were ordered to vacate their homes by June 9, 2001. But
by Sunday, not a single of the 13 families had left the
residences.

Usman said the time interval given was not enough for those
families to leave. The police had not given them any alternative
either, not even the provision of rooms, anywhere in the capital.

"Where will these poor families of retired brigadier generals
and police colonels go?", Usman Hamid told The Jakarta Post on
Sunday.

"Where will all these people go, without a home? They have
families living with them."

Usman said he would accompany the families on Monday to try
and meet with Sofjan, and discuss the issue.

"We know it is too late, but we must try," Usman said.

Meanwhile, police sources told reporters that the 13 families
had been given several warnings earlier, and had enjoyed their
free residences "for too long".

"These are official residences that belong to the state. They
are not owned by the families, even if the families have stayed
there for over 20 years," a source said. (ylt)