Families of retired and army officers have begun packing up their belongings following the announcement of an eviction plan by Jakarta Military District Command (Kodam Jaya) to eight houses in the state-owned army housing complex on Jln. Otista III in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.

One of the residents, Haryo Unggul, who had been living in the complex since 1957, on Monday said he had moved some of the larger items out of the house to avoid damage in the event of a forced eviction.

“I have moved some of the larger items, including cupboards and tables, to a relative’s house outside the complex. But we are still living in the [army] house,” he said.

Haryo said he hoped the Indonesian Military (TNI) would pay more attention to the families of retired army officers and cancel the plan.

“We are disappointed that the military will not provide us with compensation,” he said.

On Monday a group of residents from the complex staged a peaceful demonstration to protest the eviction saying the military was neglecting the fate of the families of retired officers who had done good things for Indonesia.

The group erected a stage and tents, and wore black clothes with white ribbons around their arms. They presented orations rejecting the plan, and sung national songs.

Previously, the military had sent eviction notices to the residents of five houses, with moves scheduled to take place on Monday.

However, the plan then changed.

Prastopo, the coordinator of legal affairs for the State Complex Occupant Coordination Forum (FKPPN), said Kodam Jaya had then called the residents of eight houses to a dialogue last Friday.

“The owners asked Kodam Jaya to delay the plan until June, so that their children would have time to finish their studies this year,” Prastopo said.

“[However], Kodam Jaya said if they did not move out by then, it would evict them by force on Feb. 17.”

The forum also asked the residents to withdraw a lawsuit currently being processed at Central Jakarta District Court.

“We question the legality of the eviction, because Kodam Jaya does not have any formal letter to prove their ownership of the land. If it is state-owned land, that doesn’t necessarily mean it belongs to the military,” he said.

He added that he had sent a formal letter requesting some departments, like the Public Work and the Defense Ministries, to discuss over possible ownership of the houses by the retired families but to no avail so far.

“They once held a meeting about it but then stopped,” he said.

He added that he was pinning his hopes on working committee formed by the Commission I of the House of Representatives overseeing defense affairs.

“We will attend a meeting with the committee this week to talk about the case. We expect the TNI will come into a clear concept on the sharing of houses [from retired to active officers] to prevent from possible dispute,” he said.

There are around 200 houses in the housing complex which occupies in around 7.5 hectares of land. The houses were built between 1955 and 1963. Three houses have already been evicted on Dec. 22.

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