Squatters by West Flood Canal evicted

JAKARTA: City public order officers forcibly evicted 200 families over the weekend who live in shanties along the banks of the West Flood Canal, in Penjaringan district of North Jakarta.

Around 200 public order personnel backed by police officers bulldozed the huts and torched the remaining rubble, an eyewitness told The Jakarta Post.

The squatters appeared to be resigned to their fate as this was the 13th eviction they had experienced.

"We protest the eviction as we were not notified beforehand," a resident said.

Isnu, a volunteer with a non-governmental organization assisting the squatters, blasted the eviction saying that it simply reflects Governor Sutiyoso administration's failure to keep their promise to stop all evictions while negotiation between the squatters and the city administration continued.

"We are still negotiating their fate after the eviction in July as some of them are still taking shelter in the garage in the backyard of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) building on Jl. Latuharhari, Central Jakarta," said Isnu.

The administration demolished their illegal huts for the first time in October last year. --JP