Slum residents move into new apartments

Slum residents move into new apartments

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja yesterday officially
inaugurated the opening of the Bendungan Hilir low-cost
apartments, one-and-a-half years after resistance by residents,
which peaked in a riot.

Residents were smiling, saying they were glad to be reunited
in their old neighborhood.

"It's nice to be back with people I am familiar with," Darmi,
a resident, said.

"Yes, I am very happy now. From now on, I don't have to worry
about fire and I own a house in Jakarta," said her neighbor,
Supadmi, in her cozy 21-square-meter unit.

The municipality decided to build low-cost apartments in the
area after a fire razed more than 400 houses in 1994, but the
policy was opposed by most residents.

The residents resisted in giving up their land and started
rebuilding homes, leading to an unavoidable clash with officials.

The municipality managed to convince them to accept the
project, however, and began building the apartments.

Surjadi said the apartment is proof of the city's plan to
improve the residents' accommodation. He also denied earlier
rumors which had contributed to the anxiety.

"The rumor that the land is to be used by a private developer
-- which caused a riot -- is wrong. The truth is, we are really
trying to eliminate slum areas and relocate residents to a better
place," Surjadi said.

He also told residents not to sell their units, as the
apartments were built for them. The municipality is also
subsidizing 50 percent of the Rp 20 million (US$8,695.65) to Rp
30 million price per unit.

"Don't sell your apartment, because it gives you advantages,"
Surjadi said. One advantage is that Bendungan Hilir is one of the
city's prime locations, he said.

The ceremony was also attended by Minister of Social Services
Endang Kusuma Inten Suweno, Minister of Public Housing Akbar
Tandjung and the speaker of the City Council, M.H. Ritonga.

The apartment site, located on a 4.5-hectare plot in the
former slum area, consists of three towers housing 614 units.
Each tower is a 10-floor building equipped with an elevator,
which residents say they have yet to get used to.

One resident said she had lost her sandals when she left them
outside the lift, which is covered by a decorated plastic carpet
sheet. Many locals are used to removing their footwear when
entering homes or clean places.

A 15-member family was confused as to how they would live in a
single-unit apartment.

The only worry expressed by the residents before acquiring
their units was how to continue paying monthly installments,
ranging from Rp 88,000 to Rp 191,000, with service charges at Rp
39,000 per month.

Since the fire, residents said they are still without steady
incomes.

"My husband and I used to have a small shop before the fire,"
Supadmi said. She added that her daily profits reached Rp 10,000,
and hoped she could open a store in the apartment complex to pay
the bills.

In response to whether he would be forced to sell his unit,
another resident said that this would be foolish, given the right
to have a home.

"I try to make do with what I earn," Udin said.

As of yesterday, an official said that 15 more residents are
yet to claim their ownership rights.

Several residents said that they had not yet received their
keys because officers claimed they were busy dealing with details
of the apartment's inauguration.

"They told me to come back on Monday," Koni, a women who had
just returned yesterday from her village in Cirebon, West Java,
where she had been living since the fire. (yns/gsr)