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cholars are calling on Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama to review the city'€™s policy on evicting residents from riverbanks, arguing that negative social, economic and cultural ramifications brought about by such a policy would be more dangerous than the simple environment effects alone.

In an open statement signed by 56 academics from various backgrounds, the scholars hoped that the governor would understand that the flow-on effects generated by forced eviction would be wider than simply the loss of a home.

'€œResidents evicted without any prior dialogue have been deprived of their political, social, economic and cultural rights, which results in a loss of culture and a decline in economic capability. This in turn will eventually lead to a slow impoverishment that will be very hard to recover from,'€ the statement said.

The statement was signed by, among others, Edwin Husni Sutanudjaja, geographical hydrologist from Utrecht University, Ariel Shepherd, architect from University College London, Iriana Pasaribu, children and youth geographer from University of Groningen, John Taylor, urban planner from Harvard University, Marco Kusumawijaya, director at the Rujak Center for Urban Studies and Roanne van Voorst, a lecturer in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam.

Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Sianne Indriani and public defender at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) Muhammad Isnur also signed the statement demanding that the Jakarta Administration instigate a dialogue process to find alternative solutions to the problem instead of just evicting residents.

'€œActive involvement of the citizen is not only a constitutional mandate, but also a development strategy in line with the modern and educated norms of humanity,'€ the statement read.

On Aug. 20, with more than 2,000 members of a joint force comprising the National Police, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), the city administration evicted residents from Kampung Pulo, East Jakarta.

The clash caused injuries to several residents and troop members, and Eko Prasetyo, a 22-year-old resident of Jatinegara, East Jakarta, underwent intensive medical treatment after receiving a heavy blow to his head during the chaos.

Ahok said the eviction had to be carried out in order to make way for the revitalization of the Ciliwung River. The residents have been relocated to a nearby rusunawa (low-cost apartment) complex in Jatinegara.

However, some people believed that the rusunawa was not a sufficient solution for the evicted residents, saying that residents now faced many and more severe problems from living in the complex. A youth discussion said that the governor should not consider a rusunawa to be the best or only solution for the evictees.

Nineteen-year-old Hanna Mariam believed that not every evicted resident in Kampung Pulo preferred living in a modern and fancy rusunawa compared to their former houses located on the riverbanks.

'€œIt is not a luxurious apartment that they wish for, but rather the home in which they have lived for many years. Alternative solutions must be agreed upon before forcing an eviction,'€ she said during a recent discussion at the Jakarta State University (UNJ) in East Jakarta.

Lia Toriana, youth program manager at Transparency International Indonesia, said that moving residents to a rusunawa was not as simple as moving a thing from one place to another and the city administration had failed to see that.

'€œFor example, some Kampung Pulo residents opened kiosks in front of their old houses. The business, however, had to be closed down when they move to a rusunawa because the business could not be accommodated in the new place.'€