Forcible eviction: Two men watch the destruction of their property by Public Order officials in Neglasari, Banten, on Tuesday. Most residents of Mekarsari are Chinese Indonesians. JP/R. BertoWedhatama
Dozens of residents of Neglasari district, Banten, resisted Tuesday the insurgence of hundreds of public order officers who tried to evict them from their neighborhood.
Officers reportedly arrived with heavy equipment and a fire truck to use to force residents out.
The residents, from Tangga Asem, Kokun, and Sewan Lebak villages, delivered an oration in protest as a bulldozer moved in and the fire truck sprayed water to deter them.
“We won’t move,” a resident said.
Around 30 women grouped demanding justice and compensation because of the planned eviction to be executed by the Tangerang municipality administration.
The eviction of residents from illegally constructed buildings in the villages is related to the municipality’s project to expand Cisadane River, supported by a bylaw on cleanliness, security and public order.
However, residents complained that the municipality failed to properly communicate its plan to residents.
These residents mostly live in Cina Benteng, a Chinese-Indonesian enclave at Cisadane riverbank.
Around 1,000 residents in the area comprise the Chinese community there.
The community’s persistence Tuesday resulted in an hour’s protest between the residents and officers.
As a consequence, women formed a barricade to prevent the bulldozer from operating, residents said.
At around 2 p.m. district chief Habibullah issued a statement, saying that the government would only evict people using illegal factories, office buildings and resident-owned pigpens situated along the riverbank.
“We received several notices about the eviction plan, but they were only notices.
“The mayor or even the district chief did not come to us to discuss and directly communicate the plan,” a resident claimed.
Iwan Kosasih, neighboring unit head, said the administration did not allow residents to proceed with their building permits.
“The reason is simple: It is illegal to construct buildings at a riverbank,” he said.
Iwan added that they had been aware of the issue and had not objected to the eviction plan.
“It is preposterous, however, that the government refuses to compensate the people who will be evicted from the buildings, especially because residents have constructed and renovated them over the years,” he said. (tsy)
