Tension high in Pinang Ranti

Tension high in Pinang Ranti

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five days after receiving final eviction notices, residents of
Pinang Ranti in East Jakarta are nervously awaiting the arrival
of public order officers.

The eviction notices from the East Jakarta municipality
administration were received on Jan. 2 and gave residents 24
hours to dismantle their houses.

As of Wednesday, no officials from the municipality have been
seen in the area.

The situation is quiet but tense and the 111 families refuse
to speak to reporters without their representative, Bartholomeus
Diaz, present.

Diaz said the residents were insisting that they would not
leave the land until the Harapan Kita Foundation, which claims to
be the legal owner of the land, presented the necessary ownership
documents.

"We only demand the foundation show its evidence on the
ownership of the land. We have documents saying that we have the
right to live on the land.

"If they can show us the documents, we will leave the land
without taking any compensation money," he said.

The residents filed a lawsuit against the municipality
administration on Dec. 23 with the Jakarta State Administrative
Court in response to the proposed evictions. There have been two
hearings of the suit.

"But as of yesterday, the foundation has failed to show any
evidence," Diaz said.

The families received the first eviction notice from the
administration on Dec. 9, followed by a second notice on Dec. 18.
The notices state that the land belongs to the foundation, which
has granted permission to the Jakarta Military Command (Kodam
Jaya) to build a hospital on the 3.06-hectare plot of land.

However, according to Diaz, the land belongs to the family of
Emmy Ningtyas de Groot, who passed away in late December.

"Ibu Emmy secured us a certificate to live on the land," Diaz
said, displaying a copy of the certificate.

Kodam Jaya has offered each family Rp 3 million (US$353) in
compensation, but only eight families accepted the money, Diaz
said.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has acted
to mediate between Kodam Jaya and the families, but the two sides
have failed to reach an agreement.

Diaz said he would continue to lobby the administration to
annul the eviction order.

"But now they (the administration) are trying to intimidate us
by placing several unidentified men on every street corner so
that we'll leave," said Diaz, adding that he did not have any
evidence about who sent the men.

Komnas HAM has repeatedly said that the recent string of
evictions by the administration were a violation of human rights.
The rights group is currently drafting a more humane eviction
policy, along with the National Commission on Violence Against
Women and the National Commission for Children's Protection.