Jakarta – For squatters of Kampung Bayam in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, life goes on as usual, despite the city administration's plan to eject them and restore the area to its original use as a green zone.
"I've heard about the plan recently, but there hasn't been a formal announcement from the subdistrict chief. However, if they decide to force us out, we don't have any other choice," said Musthoni, 55, who has been living in the area since 1998.
The Tanjung Priok district chief, Darwis Triaji, as quoted by Beritajakarta.com last week, said the administration planned to expel all Bayam residents during the second week of March.
Kampung Bayam (Spinach Kampung) was established in the early 1990s by people who cleared undergrowth and planted vegetables in a vacant area called BMW Park, for Bersih, Manusiawi dan Berwibawa (clean, humane and esteemed).
The administration wants to restore the 66-hectare park as part of plans to add a total of 55,540 square meters to the city's green areas. That plan is a response to criticism that flooding in the city is made worse by natural drainage areas that are converted to other uses.
"But why now? When thousands of people have settled on the land to make a living," said Solihin, 38, who has been there 13 years.
When people started to cultivate the land and build shacks, Solihin said, there was no indication the land was intended as a park. "It was just idle land with wild bushes and tall grass. When I started my spinach farm in 1995 there were already dozens of farmers in the area. There wasn't any officer who told us no."
Once praised as the city's largest public park, BMW's original design even includes a water sports center. It is indeed the second largest park in the city, after 80-hectare Monas Park in Central Jakarta, and was built when Wiyogo Atmodarminto was governor (1987-1992).
Solihin said permanent residents had increased over the years and more than 1,200 families now occupy the 26-hectare parcel. They live in houses they built themselves or are renting from other residents of the unplanned community.
This would be at least the second time Siah, 36, and her husband, have found themselves homeless. They came to BMW last year from another squatter neighborhood nearby.
The couple survive as peddlers but say they can't make ends meet. "We are trying to make a life here, like we've been doing for years."
The couple is prepared for the worst, however. "If the government isn't going to let us try to take care of ourselves, and wants to push us out again, so be it." (dre)