Sutiyoso to continue evictions

Sutiyoso to continue evictions

JAKARTA: City Governor Sutiyoso refused on Wednesday to sign a
moratorium on the forcible eviction of poor people despite the
public outcry and criticism from the National Commission on Human
Rights that saw it as against human rights.

"If the (new) agreement is designed to stop evictions, then I
cannot sign it," Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall.

The National Commission on Human Rights, the National
Commission for Children's Protection and the National Commission
for Women's Protection, jointly lodged a protest against the
administration's continued evictions of poor urban people.

"We call on the administration to stop the evictions as they
are against people's rights to shelter," said Seto Mulyadi, a
child protection activist.

In the latest report on Monday, the authorities bulldozed some
600 shacks belonging to more than 3,000 illegal squatters along
the West Flood Canal in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, leaving them,
mostly children, without a home.

According to data released by the Antieviction Network
(Jaringan Anti-Penggusuran), the authorities have carried out 45
evictions at a total of 77.45 hectares of land across the
capital. The evictions made 6,774 families, or 34,514 people,
homeless.

The authorities' lack of consistency in upholding the city's
public order is often blamed as the main cause of widespread
illegal squatting in several parts of the capital.

"The administration should continue monitoring spots such as
river banks and land beneath flyovers, to prevent illegal
squatters from occupying those places," Maringan Pangaribuan, a
councillor said earlier. --JP