T

he humane approach of Mampang Prapatan district chief Fidiyah Rokhim in resettling squatters living along the Mampang River will hopefully be seen as one of the best-preserved legacies of president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo among officials of the Jakarta city administration when dealing with residents, both legal and illegal, of the nation'€™s capital.

As reported by this newspaper in its Friday edition, Rokhim adopted the methods of the outgoing Jakarta governor during the latter'€™s tenure as mayor of Surakarta and as governor of Jakarta in the last two years. Just as his boss has done, Rokhim has won the hearts of his people because he treated them as decent citizens of Indonesia by providing the help they needed to continue their lives in better conditions.

These recent events in Mampang Prapatan in South Jakarta, are touching. The demolition of buildings along the Mampang River took place smoothly without major resistance from the squatters although it involved over 370 families from three subdistricts '€” Pela Mampang, Tegal Parang and Mampang Prapatan.

They had to leave their illegally constructed dwellings on the riverbank because the city needs to expand the river as part of the city'€™s flood-mitigation efforts.

Losing one'€™s home or business premises is certainly very bad news for anyone. Therefore, the Jakarta city administration often faces strong opposition any time it tries to evict or relocate squatters who illegally occupy state land, or street vendors who conduct their businesses on the sidewalks or other places.

What makes this district chief so different? Quite simply, his approach.

Before the eviction, Rokhim took various steps to win the residents'€™ acceptance. First, he convinced them that they would receive new and better homes than they currently had on the riverbank. He then entertained the people, including taking them on a bus tour around the city and treating them to a meal of bakso (meatball soup). Rokhim was reportedly also busy helping the residents during the eviction process, which began on Monday.

'€œAll public officials should look up to Pak Rokhim. I think he is the nicest public official in Jakarta, or maybe in Indonesia,'€ said Sumiati, one of the affected squatters.

He learned from Jokowi. When Jokowi was mayor of Surakarta, also known as Solo, a small town in Central Java, he invited hundreds of street vendors to have dinner with him on many occasions before finally he managed to relocate them to designated areas.

A similar approach was taken in Jakarta when as governor he had to relocate thousands of squatters in an area near the Pluit reservoir in North Jakarta.

Therefore, Jakarta needs more officials like Rokhim, who can use not only their brains, but also their hearts when dealing with the people. There is no doubt that the Jokowi effect has and will continue to inspire public officials in this city and in other parts of the archipelago.