Squatters go nowhere after fire

Squatters go nowhere after fire

TANGERANG, West Java (JP): Forty five families who planned to
move their shacks to make way for a public project have now lost
even the remnants for rebuilding.

The fire, which destroyed their homes last Tuesday in the
Karawaci subdistrict, broke out shortly after they had accepted
compensation to move elsewhere.

Bamboo-plaited walls and straw roofs were some of the precious
materials that went up in smoke in the Karawaci Bedeng hamlet.
The homes were on the left and right sides of the Cikokol bridge
along the Cisadane river.

"How are we supposed to build elsewhere when the compensation
is only enough for a piece of land," said Sun Fen, 55, who
mourned the loss of piles of wooden planks.

Most residents have sought refuge with relatives, while others
are trying to settle in partially set up shacks in Cicadas, the
Mauk district, some 15 kilometers from Karawaci.

So far they do not have access to a public kitchen, usually
set up with the help of local authorities after a fire.

Unofficial reports said the area was popularly suspected of
being a fertile recruiting ground for the banned Communist Party.
This is supposed to be the reason behind the lack of help from
authorities after the fire.

The gutted site was in a section marked for clearance along
the banks of the Cisadane river. Clearance plans were announced
in April to residents. They were told they were entitled only to
compensation for buildings and plants. This is in line with
regency policy which allows no compensation for land affected by
public projects.

Residents had agreed to the conditions and been promised
compensation on Sept. 21.

Inadequate

However they found their compensation payments were only half
the expected amount, and had been cut on the grounds that no one
could prove land occupancy since 1948. The receipts they were
given for the compensation payments were inadequate too, they
said.

A deadline of Oct. 15 had been set for the houses to be torn
down. But after they heard eight families had received an
additional, and unexplained, 80 percent compensation from
authorities, they decided to complain too. There has been no
official response.

On Oct. 21 Mayor Djakaria Machmud extended the clearance
deadline to Oct. 28.

The fire broke out the next day, after a mayoralty public
order official was seen setting fire to the ruins as inhabitants
tried to take down their homes, residents said.

Residents said they wondered if it was a deliberate act since
authorities had ignored their warnings. (28/anr))