Jakarta – Jakarta deputy governor-elect Sandiaga Uno has reminded the current city administration to maintain order in Kalijodo, a former red-light district in North Jakarta that is now a public park, as more than a hundred families have started to build illegal settlements under a nearby toll road.
"The administration needs to ensure that prostitution does not come back to Kalijodo," Sandiaga said recently as quoted by tempo.co. "The administration has spent so much money to keep the place in order," he added.
The city administration previously confirmed that it would tear down semi-permanent dwellings that had started to reappear near what is now the Kalijodo child-friendly integrated public space (RPTRA).
Acting Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said the Public Order Agency would coordinate with the police in carrying out the demolition next week.
The demolition of buildings in the former red-light district has been ongoing since February last year when the administration, under the leadership of then-governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, decided to transform the area into an RPTRA, equipped with a skate park.
Over the past few weeks, dozens of people have started building semi-permanent dwellings under the toll road across from Kalijodo Park. The semi-permanent dwellings have allegedly been used for prostitution. (vny)