Little love for Cakung apartments

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 10/06/2007 8:21 AM  |  Jakarta

Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Heavy traffic has not stopped homemaker Ros and her 10-year-old daughter taking the same route each day from their apartment in northern Jakarta to her school in Senen, and back again.

The low-cost apartment complex, near a traditional market on Jl. Tipar Cakung, has 10 towers and a total of 1,000 two-bedroom units.

While the journey to school can take more than an hour, Ros is not considering moving her daughter to a school closer to home.

She told The Jakarta Post she was happy with the two bedroom apartment, but she would only be there temporarily.

""We want to move closer to Angel's school,"" said the 46-year-old who previously rented a room in Central Jakarta.

She said the water was clean and ran well in their apartment and the electricity also worked. There is even basketball, badminton and volleyball courts and a mosque in the complex.

Currently, however, no phone lines have been made available for the apartments, she said.

None of the inside brickwalls of the five-story apartment towers have been painted either. Only the bathroom floors are tiled, the rest are just cement, Ros said.

Ros pays Rp 280,000 a month in rent, plus Rp 5,000 for water and another Rp 11,000 for electricity.

She said no other fees were charged, even for security or cleaning services.

""So far, the complex is safe. It's OK to walk through the blocks at night because the lights are always on.""

Ace, one of the apartment caretakers, said there were only five security personnel to guard the three-hectare compound, where ideally there should be between 10 and 15.

While the apartments may look appealing, Ros lives with only two neighbors on the fifth floor of her block, and many of the units on levels below are still vacant.

""Some people are already renting these apartments but have not moved in,"" she said, pointing to unoccupied apartments with windows covered in paper.

Pointing to some units in the six blocks opposite hers, she said, ""I don't think there is anyone living there yet.

Ace said, however, 700 units out of the total 1,000 were already taken.

Most residents (some 50 percent), are squatters from Jakarta tollway bridges, 35 percent are civil servants and laborers while the remaining 15 percent include professionals and private employees.

As stipulated in a bylaw on low-cost apartment rates, there are three categories of monthly rent available: Rp 446,000 to Rp 545,000 for the general public; Rp 283,000 to Rp 345,000 for civil servants and laborers; and Rp 90,000 to Rp 110,000 for evictees -- the higher the apartment level, the lower the price.

People first moved into Tipar Cakung apartments early this year.

According to the caretaker, 70 families who were former residents of the Pulomas low-cost apartments in East Jakarta moved in last February.

Pulomas apartments are 7 km away from Tipar Cakung.

Pulomas residents who were moved out by developers to Tipar Cakung while their units are redeveloped into luxury apartments, have complained about the difficult access and the small-size rooms available at Tipar Cakung.

Cakung is notorious for chaotic traffic, full of trucks and smoky buses.

Oppie and his spouse Ivonne rented a 54 sqm three-bedroom apartment in Pulomas for Rp 600,000 a month, but now they rent a 30 sqm two-bedroom apartment in Tipar Cakung for Rp 500,000.

""Initially we refused, but we were among the first to move into the new apartments because we need a place to keep our things,"" Oppie said.

The couple have considered renting a house in Pulo Gebang, East Jakarta, and leaving the apartment for their driver.

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