Tenants ask legal protection from Komnas HAM, councilors
Tenants ask legal protection from Komnas HAM, councilors
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Dozens of tenants in low-cost apartments in Pluit, North Jakarta,
sought legal protection on Tuesday to fight the apartment
operator's plans to evict them on Wednesday.
The residents, who are refusing to pay PT Jakarta
Propertindo's planned rent hike of 72 percent, said they would
ask for legal support from the National Commission on Human
Rights (Komnas HAM) to avoid a possible violent confrontation.
"There are many security guards around the apartments, who
were deployed by the company today. They have started to
intimidate us to pay the higher rent or leave," Acin, a tenant,
said.
"We believe Komnas HAM is capable of forcing Propertindo to
halt the eviction plan and to negotiate with us."
The tenants' legal representative Leonard Sitompul, of the
Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), said
the tenants appealed to Komnas HAM because they did not believe
the Penjaringan Police would protect them.
"We are afraid tomorrow's eviction will turn violent. We would
have asked the police to protect us but we saw there were some
officers among the (security) guards," he said.
Komnas HAM vice chairman Solahudin Wahid told the tenants the
commission would help mediate with them and PT Jakarta
Propertindo.
"I wrote and faxed a letter right after the meeting asking the
company to postpone the eviction plan. We have also invited the
company directors to come here on Thursday to meet with the
tenants," Solahudin said.
Leonard said tenants had also sought help from city
councillors to stop the eviction plan. They were received by
Rosman Siahaan, a councilor overseeing legal and administrative
affairs.
"The councillor made a phone call to Ongki Sukasah and Rico
Perlambang, two of the company's board of directors, in front of
the tenants to cancel the eviction. Let's see what happens
tomorrow," he said.
PT Jakarta Propertindo management could not be reached for
comment. An employee with the company, Edi, said none of the
directors were in the office.
The dispute started at the end of 2002 when the company
announced a 72 percent hike in rents in the apartments for the
year 2003. Some 480 families -- about 3,000 people -- in the
apartments rejected the increase, saying it was too high, too
sudden and made without consultation.
Since then, the company has frequently cut the tenants'
supplies of water and electricity.
Rent for a ground floor apartment was increased from Rp
492,000 (US$58.6) per month to Rp 848,000.
"The rent is too high for us. I think they're trying to kick
us out of the apartments as I've heard they plan to build a
commercial building on the site," Acin said.