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Jakarta Post

Pasar Ikan evictees live on amid ruins of former homes

 Two weeks after being evicted and their homes torn down, hundreds of denizens of Pasar Ikan in North Jakarta are refusing to move on, living in emergency tents and Luar Batang Mosque as they fight for fair compensation from the city administration.

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, April 30, 2016

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Pasar Ikan evictees live on amid ruins of former homes Get out: Residents of Pasar Ikan were evicted two weeks ago. (thejakartapost.com/Callistasia Wijaya)

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wo weeks after being evicted and their homes torn down, hundreds of denizens of Pasar Ikan in North Jakarta are refusing to move on, living in emergency tents and Luar Batang Mosque as they fight for fair compensation from the city administration.

“There are 433 families who refuse to be relocated to the rusunawa [low-cost rental apartments] in Rawa Bebek and Marunda prepared by the administration,” evictees representative Upi Yunita told thejakartapost.com on Friday.

The families are living in tents, with a public kitchen and toilets erected amid the rubble that was once their homes, which were demolished by Jakarta Public Order Agency officers supported by police and military personnel.

The residents will not leave the area until the administration gives them proper compensation, Upi insisted. It is estimated that the total value of the properties torn down by the city administration reaches Rp 17 billion (US$1.29 million)

For their daily supplies, the evictees are relying on donations from Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Adang Daradjatun, Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) founder Jaya Suprana and activist Ratna Sarumpaet.

The figures are all grouped in opposition to Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who is seeking reelection next year, and who has decried the support for the evictees as politically motivated.

Organizations including Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT), Dompet Dhuafa and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) have also been contributing to the daily needs of the evictees, while the Indonesian Navy has provided tents, Upi said.

Amid the ruins: The city administration plans to turn the area into a nautical tourist destination, but many evictees are refusing to move on.(thejakartapost.com/Callistasia Wijaya)

War, one of the evictees, said that economic conditions drove her decision to remain on the land. “The rusunawa are so far from here. My family and I reckon it’s better to stay here, rather than forking out for transportation to get to work,” she said, explaining that her husband sold coconut juice in the street near Pasar Ikan.

While life in a tent is far from ideal, War, who lives with her infant son, husband and mother-in-law, said she was nonetheless grateful, as she and her family ate three meals a day and she was able to procure formula milk and biscuits for her son.

Sadiah, another Pasar Ikan evictee, has moved to a rental house costing Rp 500,000 monthly in Muara Baru, near Pasar Ikan.  She sells fried snacks to other evictees to support her family.

Saudah admitted that she would in fact prefer to live at the rusunawa provided, but that it was too late to register, with the administration no longer inviting invitees to rent an apartment.

“If I get another chance, I want to be relocated to a rusunawa, but I don’t know how to apply,” she said. (bbn)

 

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