To Build Elite Settlement, Dutch Displaced Thousands of Betawi Homes in Kebayoran Baru

During the period when the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) regained control of Indonesia in 1947, they routinely distributed basic foodstuffs to the populace in an effort to win hearts and minds. Higher-income residents, determined by their tax payments, received free bread, cheese, and butter every three days. Lower-income residents received rice, along with tinned sardines and cooking oil. Ration coupons, known locally as ‘yellow cards’ due to their colour, were issued to collect these supplies. Despite these welfare measures, NICA remained confident in its ability to continue colonising the archipelago. Evidence of this long-term intent emerged on 30 August 1948, when the Dutch commenced construction of Kebayoran Baru. To build this satellite city, colonial authorities displaced thousands of Betawi homes across a 730-hectare area. The land, previously occupied by the fruit-producing villages and rice fields of Grogol Udik, Pela Petogogan, North Gandaria, and Senayan, had initially been designated for an airport before plans were changed to create the elite settlement.