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View all search resultsKampung Pulo leaders tell residents to keep calm, united
In the face of forced evictions planned by the city administration in the next few days, restive Kampung Pulo residents near the Ciliwung River in East Jakarta are exhausting all measures to defend land they consider their âcustomary rightâ
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n the face of forced evictions planned by the city administration in the next few days, restive Kampung Pulo residents near the Ciliwung River in East Jakarta are exhausting all measures to defend land they consider their 'customary right'.
NGO Ciliwung Merdeka, which works to empower residents of the Ciliwung's banks, is distributing copies of a letter dated Aug. 11 addressed to 29 government institutions to residents explaining that the eviction cannot be conducted as it is still subject to ongoing legal proceedings at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN).
'Aside from preparing them with the necessary documents, it is aimed at educating them about the legal process regarding the issue they are facing,' Ciliwung Merdeka leader Sandyawan Sumardi said on Wednesday at his office.
Facilitated by Ciliwung Merdeka, Kampung Pulo residents filed a lawsuit with the court on Aug. 13 against the East Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), demanding that it drop its third eviction warrant on Aug. 6 instructing the residents to demolish their houses and empty their land.
'If they bow to the pressure from the agency's officers to tear down their homes, they will have no evidence left to demand compensation from the city administration. This will weaken our position,' Sandyawan said.
Legal proceedings at the PTUN commenced on July 27 following a lawsuit the residents filed on July 8 in response to a second eviction warrant Satpol PP issued on June 15. The agency issued the first letter on June 11.
While the PTUN has yet to deliver a provisional verdict regarding the second warrant, the first hearing on the third eviction warrant will take place on Aug. 25.
'Instead of waiting for the results of the legal proceedings, the agency has been pressing ahead with the eviction plan by issuing such warrants for the third time,' Sandyawan said.
Meanwhile, Kampung Pulo religious figure Habib Soleh said that Ciliwung Merdeka's Aug. 11 letter had been distributed by nine area representatives, including him, to all 15 community unit heads, who would then convey the messages to the 3,809 households currently residing in the 8.6-hectare village.
'Aside from that, nearly every day since early July, Ciliwung Merdeka has also been deploying two of its members to intensively monitor the current situation in Kampung Pulo and hold meetings with the residents,' Habib said.
'We are keeping the residents calm and unified. This is also to prevent them from resorting to violent acts in dealing with the planned eviction,' said one of the Ciliwung Merdeka members, Isnu.
The eviction threats have been looming after Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama failed to stick to his earlier promise this month to work together with Kampung Pulo residents to build a community-based kampung susun (elevated village) near the Ciliwung River.
The city administration had come to a conclusion that the residents owned no legal documents for the land where they resided.
The residents are set to be relocated to the nearby Jatinegara low-cost apartment complex, which is situated just 600 meters from Kampung Pulo and is expected to be able to accommodate 4,500 families.
Meanwhile, residents of Kampung Pulo have stood their ground, insisting that their land is customary land where they have resided since 1930, with Ciliwung Merdeka legal team member Vera Soemarwi saying that such land is recognized under Law No. 5/1960 on basic agrarian principles. (alm)
