Untangling the Mess of Slum Housing: 'Crowding' in the Senen Area

JAKARTA – The slum area along the railway tracks in Senen, Central Jakarta, has finally seen a glimmer of hope.

Minister for Housing and Settlement Areas, Maruarar Sirait, took concrete steps during an inspection of a 1.61-hectare plot of land on Jalan Kramat Raya on Sunday (29/3/2026).

This project is a manifestation of President Prabowo Subianto’s instructions to optimise state assets for the benefit of ordinary citizens.

For years, providing housing in Jakarta has been hampered by land issues and overlapping bureaucracy. However, the Senen project aims to break this old pattern.

Maruarar emphasised that this development scheme involves massive collaboration between ministries, state-owned enterprises, local governments, and the private sector.

“We are synergising between the central government, Danantara, the State-Owned Enterprises Regulatory Agency, up to the provincial and city governments. Permitting will be fully assisted by local governments,” said the man familiarly known as Ara.

Certainty regarding the financing scheme and technical construction will be finalised in a cross-ministry coordination meeting scheduled for next Wednesday.

The first option is development by Perum Perumnas with a capacity of 1,000 units in two towers. This scheme relies on state budget allocations with full utility support from the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government.

The second option is collaboration with Yayasan Buddha Tzu Chi Indonesia, which offers to build nine four-storey towers.

With a total of 690 units, this option highlights a humane housing concept equipped with communal spaces and a multi-purpose building.

Regardless of which option is chosen, the target for groundbreaking is set to begin in May 2026.

The government’s ambitions do not stop at Senen. The Head of the State-Owned Enterprises Regulatory Agency, Dony Oskaria, revealed that the pattern of utilising SOE assets for people’s housing will be replicated nationwide.