It takes around 2.5 hours to reach Kutruk, Tangerang, by a motorcycle from South Jakarta.

The road is potholed and is covered with big rocks. With only a few trees around, it is extremely dusty during the dry season.

As there is no public transportation in this area of the Tigaraksa district, owning a motocycle is a must for residents.

Welcome to the Kutruk military complex, the housing area where veterans or their wives will spend their rest of lives after accomplishing their mission defending Indonesia’s sovereignty.

 The houses, attached to each other, measure 27 square meters each on a plot of 60 square meters, with a small bedroom and bathroom. The building materials are shoddy and residents often experience serious water shortages in the dry season.

Sumiyati Cornen, 70, is one of the widows who lives in this complex. Sumiyati and her husband, the late Corporal Cornen, moved to Kutruk in 1996 after his retirement, when his former home in the battalion’s compound in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta, was occupied by an active soldier.

“We moved here because we didn’t have any choice. This place is far from everywhere and we feel isolated,” Sumiyati, a mother of six, told The Jakarta Post.

She said that her husband had served the military for years, including operations in Papua and East Timor (now Timor Leste).

“Now we stay here like lepers,” she said with a bitter smile.

The Cornen family bought the house on installments of Rp 200,000 (US$20.85) a month for 15 years. They had to fork out extra to improve the house, constructing the kitchen and terrace. Sumiyati depands on her children to take her to the market or the local clinic by motorcycle.

“If we don’t have a motorcycle available, we have to rent one for Rp 60,000 a day,” Sumiyati said.

 She acknowledged that many veterans or veterans’ wives feel lonely in Kutruk.

Many have decided to sell their homes to move elsewhere to be near their children, like the widow Sofiyah. “No one wants to live in Kutruk,” said her son, Yono.

“My mother is old and often sick. It would be difficult for her to find medical treatment,” he added.

 The population here is predominantly elderly; veterans or veterans’ widows from diverse military battalions in Jakarta, with different skills and experiences. In their spare time, they exchange stories about their experiences in Aceh, Papua or East Timor.

 Like it or not, Sumiyati and the other military wives must learn to enjoy staying in this place.

“At least this is our home, and no one will evict us from here,” Sumiyati said, referring to the controversial instances of eviction of military families from their homes.

Housing status

Availability
Needed homes : 427,866
Available homes : 192,823

Occupants in available houses
Active personnel : 158,705
Retired personnel : 27,460
Non military personnel : 6,658

— JP/Nani Afrida

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