Surjadi complains municipal policy misunderstood
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)