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City to continue project despite resistance from residents
The South Jakarta administration will continue in its ambition to reshape the Ciliwung River even though the project necessitates the eviction of residents and the destruction of dozens of houses, an official has said
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T
he South Jakarta administration will continue in its ambition to reshape the Ciliwung River even though the project necessitates the eviction of residents and the destruction of dozens of houses, an official has said. Despite protests from residents demanding compensation, the administration is adamant in its ambition to reshape the river to help alleviate the annual flooding problems that afflict Jakarta.
'There will be no more negotiation about compensation. We will stick with the plan by starting the project on Monday, whether they like it or not,' South Jakarta Mayor Tri Kurniadi said on Saturday. 'Moreover, almost all of the residents have agreed to the compensation that we have already offered.'
Tri explained that his administration had provided apartments in the South Cipinang Besar and Pulo Gebang apartment blocks, both in East Jakarta, for 97 households in neighborhood units (RT) 11, 12 and 15 of Bukit Duri.
The mayor denied the claim of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) that around a dozen households were still fighting for 'fairer compensation'.
Tri countered that only one household was still demanding cash compensation, while the remaining households had moved themselves to the apartments.
On Wednesday, the LBH and representatives from Bukit Duri met with officials from the city administration following the issuance of the first warning letter regarding the relocation. In the letter, the city administration demanded that the residents pack their belongings and move to other places by Dec. 25.
Oky Wiratama, a public lawyer from the LBH, said that during Wednesday's meeting, the representatives had asked the authorities to postpone the river widening project until both parties spoke with one voice on compensation packages.
She said around a dozen of households had sales and purchase deeds and documents related to property tax.
Oky said that the residents had previously hoped that they would receive the compensation promised to them by former Jakarta governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. Jokowi pledged that the city administration would provide them with cash compensation in accordance with the area of the land plot that they owned.
'He even promised to give compensation for the residents' flower pots,' Oky added. 'However, Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama revoked the decision.'
She then pointed out that the city administration had violated relocation procedures because it drew a raffle for the apartments before having reached an agreement regarding compensation with all of the residents.
According to Oky, the city officials seemed to be in a rush to execute the program.
On Saturday, Tri rejected all of Oky's statements. He said that the residents could not claim cash compensation because they only owned documents pertaining to building ownership. He explained that they had to own documents pertaining to plots of land in order to legitimately claim the compensation they wanted.
Tri said that the city would try to begin the project as early as possible to prepare for Jakarta's peak period of flooding, expected to arrive in January or February of next year. (agn)
