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2014: Thousands lose homes to make way for river dredging
For green space: A resident sifts through the rubble of homes in the northern part of Pluit Reservoir in North Jakarta on Monday
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span class="inline inline-center">For green space: A resident sifts through the rubble of homes in the northern part of Pluit Reservoir in North Jakarta on Monday. The northern area was the latest to be cleared, following the southern and western parts, which were converted into green areas. Residents living in the eastern part have yet to be evicted as the city has not provided low-cost apartment rentals. JP/P.J. Leo
The city administration evicted almost 14,000 people from their homes last year and put an end to the businesses of more than 2,000 street vendors, paving the way for river widening and dredging, toll road expansion and more
green areas.
Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama said the move was necessary to reduce the city's problems, pointing the finger at squatters as the cause of annual flooding in the capital.
Recent data released by the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) indicate that the administration evicted 13,852 squatters from their homes last year as well as ended the business of 2,194 street vendors.
The number of evicted squatters was lower than the year before when Fakta recorded 18,496 people evicted, while fewer street vendors, 1,641, were evicted in 2013.
Ahok, the former deputy who replaced Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo when he became the president, has repeatedly said he would continue conducting evictions for the sake of the city.
He said squatters were the main cause of annual flooding in the capital because the rivers were surrounded by illegal homes and could not function properly and that squatters therefore had to be evicted.
Fakta's research found that most of the evicted families ' almost 500 ' came from the Sunter River area in North Jakarta, followed by Pejagalan in North Jakarta and East Tebet in South Jakarta with more than 200 families.
Most of the street vendors were evicted from Mangga Besar Station in Central Jakarta, with 683 vendors, Kali Baru Jatinegara in East Jakarta with 300 vendors and Kebayoran Lama in South Jakarta with 200 vendors.
Ahok said the city would evict illegal residents and pay compensation of an amount determined by the city administration, but underlined that it would depend on how long they had lived in the neighborhood.
Furthermore, Ahok said the policy on evictions would not get any softer in 2015 and emphasized that he was ready to face resistance.
A number of human rights activists have expressed disappointment over the controversial policy, underlining the city administration's failure to provide sufficient compensation to the evictees.
Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) lawyer Handika Febrian told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview that most evictions were done without sufficient preparation and also impoverished the already underprivileged residents.
In 2014, 825 eviction victims asked LBH Jakarta for legal assistance or to help them obtain the promised compensation or low-rent housing.
'Not every eviction victim who lived there for more than 30 years got relocated because all of the low-cost apartments had already been rented out. Some of them have no other place to go,' Handika said on Monday.
He said squatters and illegal vendors occupied their premises without deeds, but the city government should 'provide a more comprehensive plan' to make the city a better place instead of conducting evictions.
Handika added that the city administration's spatial planning had shown the city's disregard for its citizens' rights because most plans, such as river normalization, green area widening and the beautification of the city, would necessitate more evictions.
'This year will be tougher,' he said.
