Surjadi complains municipal policy misunderstood
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja complained over the weekend that the administration is often misunderstood and erroneously termed as "cruel" by the public for demolishing the makeshift homes of squatters.
"Such misunderstanding arises because municipal officials fail to properly communicate the administration's programs to the community," Surjadi said during a visit to Kalideres, West Jakarta.
Surjadi emphasized that it is the duty of city officials to make the public understand why the squatters have to leave state land.
The governor was referring to people, most of them homeless migrants, who illegally occupy state land along the riverbanks and other unoccupied plots of land in the city.
"If squatters keep on crowding riverbanks and throw everything into the rivers, the waterways will become shallower and shallower and eventually become clogged. We have to make the community understand this impact," he said.
Industrial and household waste have been blamed by the government as the main polluters of city rivers.
In order to clean the capital's rivers, the municipal administration has launched a bold campaign called Operasi Kali Bersih (Operation River Cleanup) with the top priority being the reduction of the environmental impact of the disposal of untreated industrial waste into waterways.
Under the program, industries operating in the city have been asked to install waste water treatment plants. Several factories dumping untreated waste into city rivers have been warned and severely punished.
The municipal administration, however, has been very careful in tackling the problem of household waste because it is more complicated and involves a great many more people, especially the tens of thousands of squatters living along the riverbanks.
In a speech during the visit, Surjadi offered migrants from other provinces, especially those who are occupying state-owned land along the capital's riverbanks, several options, including going back to their hometowns rather than remaining jobless and without proper or permanent housing.
"District heads and mayors must therefore be watchful about any attempts by migrants to illegally occupy any piece of land within their jurisdiction," he said.
Regulation
The governor also ordered subdistrict and district heads to strictly implement the regulation requiring visitors to report to neighborhood chiefs within 24 hours after arrival in the city.
The governor said subdistrict chiefs must determine the purpose of each and every newcomers' visit to the capital.
"Subdistrict heads must know about the purpose of any newcomer's visit -- are they looking for a job, or have they come to study? If they cannot find one within six months and they have no one to financially support them here, tell them to go back to their hometowns," he said.
"This does not mean that we are cruel. To the contrary. We just do not want them to be forced to become homeless people, scavengers, or the like," Surjadi said.
Surjadi underlined the necessity to motivate such visitors to return to their hometowns despite the fact they may feel ashamed because their families and relatives expected them to be successful in the city. (arf)