In an attempt to further gentrify Jakarta, home to many illegal settlements and slums, the city administration on Wednesday tore down hundreds of temporary houses under the Pluit toll road, some of which were reportedly being used for prostitution.

The illegal settlements were located across from the new and popular child-friendly integrated public space (RPTRA) in Kalijodo, Penjaringan, North Jakarta.

A joint team consisting of the Jakarta Police, the Army and the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) deployed 1,600 personnel to clear the area of squatters who have kept returning to the neighborhood even though the area had been cleared four times since April 2016.

The officers started to work at 7 a.m. with the help of two backhoes to tear down about 100 buildings that occupied the 200-square-meter area.

The demolition team did not face resistance from the squatters, some of whom voluntarily tore down their own makeshift homes.

One of the squatters, Tunyatin, said she had been living under the toll road for the past two months and she started tearing down her home on Tuesday after hearing news about the upcoming clearance.

“I have been taking down the house since yesterday, together with [my husband]. We will move,” Tunyatin said.

North Jakarta Mayor Wahyu Haryadi said during the demolition that the place would be renovated for other uses, so that the squatters would not return again to build more makeshift houses.

“The area will be transformed into a parking area and RPTRA that consists of sport fields and parks. We will cooperate with toll road operators PT Jasa Marga and PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada [CMNP] as the parties responsible for this place,” Wahyu said as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.

Wahyu added that some of the squatters would not be relocated to low-cost apartments because they had neither land certificates nor permits to live in the area, but for squatters who possess Jakarta IDs bearing addresses in Penjaringan, they would be eligible to live in low-cost apartments in Rawa Bebek, Marunda and on Jl. Raya Bekasi KM 2, the construction of which will be finished later this year.

Such squatters will be able to live in the low-cost apartments even though they had previously refused to be relocated and had moved back to live in Kalijodo.

“Indeed, there are Kalijodo residents who were evicted last year but refused to live in the low-cost apartments. So if such residents are here [in the demolished area in Kalijodo], we will relocate them again,” he said.

Satpol PP head Jupan Royter said that the agency would also tear down illegal makeshift buildings in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta, and Pasar Ikan, North Jakarta, after gentrifying Kalijodo, a former red-light district that was demolished under the leadership of then-active governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in February last year.

After the historic red-light district was torn down, the city
administration built Jakarta’s largest skateboard venue and park, called RPTRA Kalijodo. The public park has become increasingly popular among the city’s young people ever since its establishment.

However, after the demolition many evictees returned to the area and lived under the toll road as it was the only possible place for them. They made their buildings out of scrap lumber and thin plywood. Each building was about 2 meters by 4 meters in size and could be occupied by six people.

Previously, some residents also started erecting makeshift buildings at Pasar Ikan, Penjaringan, after Ahok lost the gubernatorial election to Anies Baswedan. Those people refused to be relocated to the low-cost apartments provided by the administration.

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