Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Non-governmental group the Urban Poor Consortium on Thursday said the housing solutions offered to squatters living under elevated roads by the city and North Jakarta municipal administrations were not feasible.
Squatters who are in possession of city-issued identity cards have been given the option of renting apartments in Marunda, North Jakarta; Cakung, East Jakarta; or Parungpanjang, Bogor; for discounted rates of between Rp 90,000 (US$9.56) and Rp 110,000. Squatters without Jakarta IDs, however, will be given start-up capital of Rp 1 million per family.
"The squatters cannot live in the apartments proposed by the administration because our surveyors have reported significant structural damage there," consortium coordinator Wardah Hafidz said at the City Council. "The team predicts the apartment building in Marunda (North Jakarta) will collapse within the next two to three years."
Contradicting Wardah, Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo separately said the NGO's findings were "irrational". "The administration took everything into account before constructing the apartment building."
Speaking on behalf of more than 10,000 poor families who have received eviction notices from the municipality, Wardah, along with at least 70 squatters, stormed the council Thursday, demanding that councillors of the Prosperous Justice Party prevent the municipality from carrying out evictions until all sides had come to an agreement.
She also said only a fourth of the 10,000 poor families had Jakarta IDs. "Where is the administration going to house the remaining 7,500 families?" The apartments, she said, were not ready for occupancy as "the utility system, such as tap water, will not be ready until next year".
The municipality, the Cawang-Pluit turnpike operator, PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada, state-owned turnpike operator PT Jasa Marga and the Public Works Ministry have decided to relocate all squatters living under elevated roads stretching the 11 kilometers from Tanjung Priok to Penjaringan, all in North Jakarta, including those of Jembatan Tiga.
The decision was made following the Aug. 7 fire that burned more than 200 plywood structures to the ground and left 500 people homeless. The blaze was the second in the area in the last two months and severely damaged the turnpike pylons.
According to data from the Urban Poor Consortium, 4,646 families or 18,584 people are currently living under the elevated roads.
The Public Works Ministry gave squatters the right to build shanties under turnpikes in 2002 but annulled the decree later in November 2006.
Wardah urged the council to set up a meeting to together find "the best solution for all" before next Tuesday – the day when the municipality will decide whether it will delay the evictions, scheduled for next Friday, or call them off.
Councillor Mukhayar R.M. of the Prosperous Justice Party said it would bring the issue to the fore but canceling the evictions was impossible. "Jakarta should be a decent place to live for everyone. But squatters should not live under turnpikes because no regulations allow them to live there."
Wardah offered as a solution that the administration allow squatters to use the three-meter-wide vacant spaces along the sides of turnpikes to build vertical structures, should they not be allowed to live under turnpikes.