T

he dispute between the Jakarta administration and Luar Batang residents of North Jakarta has grown more bitter with the residents violently showing their refusal toward the officials telling them to leave.

Hundreds of the residents staged a rally in front of City Hall on Tuesday, unfurling banners and posters demanding the resignation of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.

Some of the protestors, who were mostly male teenagers, then threw plastic water bottles at a crowd of reporters who were covering the event. The reporters, however, did not respond aggressively and the situation did not descend into violence.

“Your coverage of our situation in Luar Batang is useless. Your news does not make the administration revoke its plan,” said a protestor.

On Monday evening, some residents reportedly attacked a Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officer who was accompanying city secretary Saefullah on a visit to Luar Batang. The officer was reportedly hospitalized with an open wound on his forehead.

Commenting on the incident, Luar Batang mosque secretary Mansur Amin said on Tuesday that residents were angry because Saefullah had emphasized during his visit that the city would proceed with the eviction plan.

Moreover, he added, the residents suspected that Saefullah visit had an ulterior motive, namely to bring the first eviction warning letter.

On the same day, Saefullah denied the allegation and said he merely wanted to provide uniforms for the Mosque caretakers.

“I visited Luar Batang mosque last night at around 8 p.m. because I wanted to measure the bodies of Luar Batang Mosque caretakers,” said Saefullah, adding that aside from Satpol PP officers, he had also brought along a tailor. “We want to make the area a religious tourism location, right? Therefore, the caretakers should have an attractive uniform.”

However, he added, more and more people had come to the mosque to display their rejection of the eviction plan. Therefore, he decided to leave the area.

He further said that Tuesday’s visit was the third time he had come to Luar Batang after he previously met with local officials to design the tourism spot.

Earlier this year, the Jakarta administration announced that it would evict residents of Luar Batang and Pasar Ikan, which are adjacent to each other, in a bid to revitalize Islamic tourism along the city’s north coast. It plans to connect the area to another tourist destination, Kota Tua (old city) in West Jakarta.

Although having announced the eviction plan, which has aroused anger among Luar Batang residents, the administration has yet to finish designing the master plan of the redesigned tourism destination.

“We still do not know the details [of the plan] as we are still designing the blueprint,” said the city’s deputy for spatial planning and environment, Oswar Muadzin Mungkasa, last week. “We have not made the master plan as we are still discussing the matter with related officials.”