That's how evictions go: We have a real governor

Soeryo Winoto, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post
soeryo@thejakartapost.com

Observers may be fed up of criticism and comments on the Jakarta administration's policy on forced evictions, given that decision makers' persist, despite such negative analysis.

However, statements by Governor Sutiyoso defending his moves regarding the evictions indeed deserve further commentary.

The governor was quoted by reporters (Kompas, Dec. 21) as saying that the evictions were the most humane way to make Jakarta free from slum areas.

To the insolent critics, he said, "Just teach me what being humane is."

With his military background, the retired lieutenant general Sutiyoso could have drilled his subordinates and staff on how to combat and destroy the enemy. The administration's "humane" way of removing slum residents and vendors from the public's sight, he said, was the only way to maintain order in the city.

Everybody familiar with this teeming capital should certainly take the time to contemplate these never-ending problems. Before starting his first term in office as Jakarta governor, Sutiyoso -- formerly chief of the Jakarta Military Command -- should have been well informed about the chaotic condition of Jakarta, from A to Z. With such a background, it would be expected that he make significant steps toward dealing with slum areas, roadside vendors and squatter communities at the very beginning of his term.

This is why common people now question why he failed to make appropriate policies to eliminate squatters, slum areas and roadside vendors in the early stages. If he had been aware of "the menace" of unauthorized residents' activities, he could have stopped all such activities in the initial years of his tenure. (The administration dubs the squatters and the eviction victims as "unauthorized residents" for having no Jakarta ID cards.)

His statement that the evictions and demolitions are for the sake of 10 million Jakarta residents could also spark criticism. He said he cared about the whole Jakarta citizens, instead of only 1,000 people. Does he mean that managing few people is much easier than managing a larger number of people? Or does he mean that the forceful evictions were carried out for the sake of the interests of a larger population of the city?

If he means managing fewer people is easier, he is practically right. But the question is also whether he has managed to control his unscrupulous or corrupt subordinates, who have allowed the illegal existence of slum areas, the growth of squatters' communities and the increase of more and more roadside vendors.

Many roadside vendors have complained about officials who always asked them for illegal levies. As we all know the "illegal houses" that belong to squatters have electricity and tap water as well as telephone lines. The owners had even paid property taxes. These all were possible only with the role of the city's unscrupulous officials.

If Sutiyoso thinks that demolitions and forced evictions are in the interests of most of Jakarta's citizens, we have yet to see a study revealing whether the majority of people here agree with the demolitions.

No one will deny that people have no right whatsoever to occupy or use a plot of land or property without first seeking the owners' permission. It is clear then that law enforcement is the main problem.

Sutiyoso started his first gubernatorial term in 1997 and his ambition, supported by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, brought him to the second term until 2007.

If Sutiyoso had been smart, and initiated integrated and thorough plans since his first day in City Hall, the number of people evicted, notably in the last four months, could have been reduced.

With his persistence in demolition and eviction, Sutiyoso seems intent on proving his theory that cure is better than prevention.

In response to the above request, or challenge -- to teach the governor how to deal with the problem humanely -- people may assume that he is not aware of the basic human right of a citizen to shelter. Thus forcing thousands of squatters or vendors to leave an area they had occupied for years (even for generations), without giving them another place to live, is a violation of human rights.

The humane way to handle the squatters and roadside vendors would be -- first things first -- to take appropriate action at the time they started to occupy other people's property.

Forceful demolition is just a indication of the state of frustration among City Hall's decision makers, who have always failed to establish an integrated program, which includes housing and employment for the residents -- whether or not they have Jakarta ID cards with them.

And if Sutiyoso were sincere about his will to hear others' views on being humane, he could have learned from people like leading scholar and Jakarta resident Frans Magniz-Suseno, a staunch critic against demolition and eviction. His many articles have reiterated that the basic human rights of the demolitions' victims should have been respected.