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fter facing an uphill battle trying to defend their houses, Pinangsia residents are being forced to bid their final goodbyes to their beloved neighborhood that once gave them pride, earning a green and clean award from the city administration.

Siswantoro, 42, one of the residents on the banks of the Ciliwung River in Pinangsia, West Jakarta, is still building half of a semi-permanent house upon the rubble of his previous house, which was demolished during the first eviction last May. He received information earlier this month that he and dozens of other families who had stayed in the area after the May eviction would be put out for the second time on Feb. 10.

'€œThe eviction notice tells us to demolish our own houses or they will do it on Wednesday,'€ he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Out of 114 families evicted in May last year only 24 families, including Siswantoro'€™s, are currently staying in semi-permanent houses in the area. The rest have either moved to one of several low-cost apartments (rusunawa) provided by the city administration or have rented houses in the capital.

'€œI have talked with all the families who also got the notice and we have agreed to remain at this place no matter what.'€

Hundreds of buildings in several residential areas, which the administration considered illegal and claimed blocked the river'€™s flow, such as Kampung Pulo in East Jakarta and Bukit Duri in South Jakarta, were evicted by the administration last year so it could realize its Ciliwung River normalization program.

The administration determines a 15-meter space is needed between the banks of the river and residential areas for the program. Any house built less than 15 meters from the banks will be demolished.

Some of the residents questioned the 15-meter requirement set by the administration.

'€œIn the past they told us that the space is only a six-meter width,'€ said 45-year-old Marsa Haerudin.

'€œThe 15-meter width regulation was recently issued and the district head here has rigidly applied it. He refused to have dialog with us,'€ said 45-year-old Sutarno.

Despite not holding land certificates, the residents had developed strong bonds with the neighborhood, which they took good care of for years '€” efforts that won them first place in the green and clean area category in 2010 in an environmental competition held jointly by a local NGO and the Jakarta administration.

'€œLook at the administration'€™s logo over here. So, this award was endorsed by the administration. Now they want to evict us,'€ he said as he showed the award certificate.

He also showed some pictures of the neighborhood before it was evicted. In the pictures, the neighborhood looked nice and clean with flowers and plants thriving among residents'€™ houses.

'€œWe kept our environment clean and green. So, it'€™s a mistake to call us the cause of floods,'€ said Sutarno.

He added that he did not have a land certificate, but he refused to be called an illegal settler, saying that he has regularly paid taxes on the land.

For the evicted residents in Pinangsia, the administration has promised to move them to the Marunda rusunawa in North Jakarta, Daan Mogot in West Jakarta and the Komarudin and Pulogebang rusunawas, both in East Jakarta.

But getting an apartment in a rusunawa is not an easy thing. Besides being unaffordable for most of the residents, who mostly work as street vendors around the Kota Tua tourist zone, units are not always available.

'€œThe units are very limited. I once went there to get one because the management has my husband'€™s name on its lists but I went home empty-handed,'€ said 40-year-old Murniasih. '€œI also doubted the way they selected people who get the unit.'€

Ika Lestari Aji, head of the Jakarta Housing and Government Building Agency, has acknowledged the lack of empty rusunawa apartments, saying that those who do not receive space in a rusunawa must survive on their own while waiting for the construction of more to be completed next year.