Jakarta – A rights watchdog said on Sunday the Jakarta administration has opted to do less to improve the welfare of the city's low-income population and has instead decided to oppress them even more.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) said that the city has allocated a total of Rp 1.2 trillion (US$132 million) of its 2011 budget to acquire land for development, which would involve evicting many marginalized citizens.

"The administration only allocated Rp 517 billion for welfare programs, such as healthcare. That's only half of its eviction budget," Restaria, an LBH activist, said at a press conference on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com news portal.

LBH Jakarta demanded the administration to revise its budget. "The administration should allocate more for healthcare, education and employment. It should also specify its plans for the sake of transparency," Restaria said.

The watchdog said that the administration would violate citizens' rights to property, housing, healthcare and education through the evictions.

The city administration previously announced plans to start revitalizing and dredging several rivers in Jakarta, which would involve relocating people who live on the surrounding riverbanks.

The city and central government have received a US$150 million loan from the World Bank to dredge the rivers under the Jakarta Emergency Dredging Initiative (JEDI).

The city's revitalization of the 119-kilometer long Ciliwung river, Jakarta's main waterway, was expected to directly affect more than 210,000 people who living along its banks.

The Ciliwung river revitalization project was expected to affect a 440-kilometer area of Jakarta occupied by 3.5 million people, according to reports.

The City Council has approved Rp 27.95 trillion ($3.07 billion) budget for 2011, up slightly from Rp 26.71 trillion in 2010.