Slum area residents wait for compensation money

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When it comes to agrarian law, people living in slum areas are mostly oblivious or rather choose to ignore the matter, as tending to their own basic needs takes priority. This however, has cost some their homes.

After their houses were demolished by city Public Order officials on Tuesday, the people who occupied the slum area along the Cagak river in Penjagalan, North Jakarta, complained of unfair treatment.

Some of the residents reasoned that as they had lived in the area for more than 60 years they were entitled to the land, or at the very least, had the right to live there.

"I don't have a certificate for the land, but I have a letter issued by the late President Soekarno which confirmed my ownership," said 70-year-old Juned bin Hamzah, the local community leader.

He added that he had never neglected to pay tax on his one -hectare land block each year.

Juned said he had allowed the others to build houses on his property, with an agreement that the occupant pay him Rp 35,000 each year to help him pay the property tax.

He believed that the Soekarno-signed letter, which he said is now buried under the rubble of his home, was legally binding, thus giving him ownership rights.

"I wanted to get a land certificate, but the process it too expensive. I don't have the money. But my letter is enough," Juned told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

After the demolition, which the occupants said was without any prior notification, the people relocated to a series of makeshift tents they built along the nearby toll road.

Some sent their remaining belongings to their villages by jointly renting a truck, while they wait for compensation money from the city administration. Some residents said they would return to their villages after receiving the money.

Meanwhile, the city administration, which demolished the houses to prevent flooding, said no compensation would be given because the people lived on the land illegally. But it promised to give a Rp 100,000 "goodwill allowance" to each family.

Another resident, Amah, who has stayed in the area for about 20 years, said that she and her husband would remain on the toll road if they were not properly compensated.

"This is unfair, I've stayed here for more than 20 years ... they can't just come and destroy my home," she said.

Amah, who was out at her job as a cleaning maid during the demolition, was forced to sift through the ruins of her former home to search for her clothes.