Squatters demand compensation

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Some 200 evicted squatters from Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, staged a demonstration at the West Jakarta District Court on Tuesday to demand more compensation.

Evicted on Oct. 2, 2003, the 280 former residents have yet to receive compensation for the money they spent building homes on the site, which they claim totaled Rp 9.3 billion (US$1 million).

PT. Sinar Slipi Jaya is now building the Mediterania Apartment complex where their former homes once stood in the Taman Anggrek area of West Jakarta.

"I lived there for two years. I had to sell almost all the valuable belongings that I had, including my wife's jewelry and the land I owned back in my village in Pekalongan, Central Java, to build my home there. Altogether I spent almost Rp 55 million," said Sentot, a father of two children who runs an unregistered taxi service.

"We are here today, again, to ask for our right to compensation," said Ali Nugraha, the coordinator of the rally. This was their 13th demonstration outside the courthouse during the legal proceedings on the case.

The former residents are basing their case on payments they say they made to a land broker representing the owner of the site.

The residents are suing former West Jakarta mayor Sarimun Hadisaputra, PT Sinar Slipi Jaya, the reputed owner of the land, Agustina Munawar, and the city defense/security agency for compensation.

"The compensation for each family ranges from Rp 12 million to hundreds of millions of rupiah. But that does not include anything for duress or other non-material effects of the evictions," he said.