'Who told them to come anyway?

'Who told them to come anyway?

In stark contrast to the modern metropolis, more than 100,000
neglected poor families have made the eroding riverbanks or small
spaces beneath overpasses or bridges their home. The city's
poverty eradication schemes have not reached them, as they are
still treated as illegal aliens, even though they may have been
born or have lived in the capital for decades. The Jakarta Post
asked some Jakartans their opinion about the presence of
squatters.

Wenarto Leo, 26, works at a construction consultants office in
Taman Permata Buana, West Jakarta. He lives in a boarding house
in Kelapa Gading, East Jakarta:

I agree with (Jakarta Governor) Sutiyoso. Squatters should be
got rid of. They live on land that is not theirs. Who told them
to come to Jakarta anyway?

I sound harsh, I know, but if the owner of a piece of land
wants to use it, squatters living there should get out. Of course
they must be given notification a couple of times before
eviction.

If the government wants to provide low-cost apartments for
them, as it did in the Soeharto era, fine. But it's not
compulsory. It's not something the government is obliged to do,
because such a replacement is not a squatter's right.

If some land were unoccupied, people could ask permission to
live there. But once the owner wished to make use of it, they
should be ready to get out. It would be different if they rented
the land, of course.

Irfan Mustofa, 42, works at a publication company in Sunter,
North Jakarta. He lives at a rented house in Mampang Prapatan,
South Jakarta:

I agree that there must be a mechanism to limit inward
migration to big cities like Jakarta. As an example, people who
wish to move to Jakarta should have a place to stay and a job.
Otherwise, they will simply become squatters.

Jakarta still attracts many people living in remote areas who
see it as dream-come-true city, with many kinds of jobs available
for them to do.

However, the city administration should not treat unfairly the
unlucky ones who have become squatters. They should not be
evicted summarily from their makeshift shelters without being
offered a genuine alternative.

The administration should act with greater foresight.
Evictions would not be necessary if the administration prevented
people from occupying land owned by the state and by private
companies.

--The Jakarta Post