Hundreds of residents of Pinangsia in Taman Sari district, West Jakarta, are living in tents and shop terraces beside the debris of their former homes, which were destroyed by the West Jakarta administration as part of the Ciliwung River normalization plan.

Residents say that the administration evicted them after the two sides failed to reach an agreement. They proposed a revitalization of the area instead of eviction to Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama on March 18, but no follow-up discussion ever took place.

Separately, Ahok said that the administration had instructed the resident to move weeks earlier.

'€œWe notified them that whoever needed a home after the eviction had to register with the Housing and Administration Buildings Agency in order to get a rental unit. It'€™s sad that they lost their homes, I understand, but their residences were illegal and the eviction is for the greater good,'€ he said.

The residents rejected the illegality of their homes, as they had been living in the area since the 1980s and paid property taxes (PBB). They admitted, however, that they were given three warning letters in February, but claimed nobody told them that they could register for housing.

Titi, one of the residents, said, '€œOn Feb. 23 there was an allocation of units at the district office but only 54 out of 114 family heads were allocated four low-cost rental apartments (rusunawa) in the city, including at Marunda apartments in North Jakarta.'€

She and dozens of residents went to Marunda in early March to get the units'€™ keys, but were turned away by the management.

She told the reporters on Thursday, quoting the management, '€œWhy have you come here? You haven'€™t been evicted yet. There are North Jakarta locals on the waiting list and now you want to move in too.'€

Urban organizations estimate that 5,500 families have faced eviction this year, while the housing agency data has said there will be 5,000 new rusunawa units built this year.

Wagiman, another resident, said that the administration should compensate the evictees. He claimed to have lived in the area since 1981, when he was a civilian police auxiliary in the subdistrict, and to have paid property tax since the 1990s.

'€œHere we only need to pay tax, electricity and water. Now the administration wants us to move and pay monthly rent. Where'€™s the sense of justice in that?'€ said Wagiman, who chose to sleep amid the debris.

Muhammad Gugun, a representative of the residents and a member of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), demanded more consideration of the poor from Ahok.

'€œAhok has often said that if the poor were given a unit for free, they would sell it to others illegally. I wish that, instead of generalizing, he would look more closely at why some do so. We want housing that'€™s near our former home so that we can continue doing the same job,'€ he said.

Gugun went on to say that he hoped the governor would discuss the matter with them instead of listening to inaccurate reports from his subordinates, so as to avoid further forced evictions.

The Wednesday eviction destroyed at least 114 buildings and an early childhood school in three neighborhoods, leaving hundreds of people without shelter.

The community had won a role-model community award in 2005 for its efforts to create greenery along the river, a resident said, showing the trophy to reporters.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute recorded 28 forced evictions in the capital in 2014.

During last year'€™s presidential campaign, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and the UPC signed a political pact comprising key demands from the poor, stipulating that the president would not allow eviction of squatters without first ensuring they had replacement shelter. (rbk)

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