“[The residents] can choose whether to stay or leave the apartments if they find better, cheaper and more convenient living places. Life is about choices,” Djarot said at City Hall as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.

Djarot further said that living in Jakarta was not easy and that citizens, therefore, had to work hard to make a living. He said he did not want to see Jakartans skip payments on rent, so he insisted that the residents pay the fees or else face eviction.

Around 6,000 low-cost apartment residents who have yet to pay rent are former residents of the Ciliwung riverbank, where houses were demolished to make way for a river-dredging project. The majority of them, who worked mainly as casual laborers, said it was hard to earn money living in a different area.

On Tuesday morning, a woman, Ika, and her husband, who used a wheelchair, visited City Hall to meet Djarot and ask for an apartment. Djarot expressed interest in fulfilling Ika’s request, provided that she pay around Rp 300,000 (US$22.5) per month in rent.

Ika said she was willing to pay the amount, as rent for her current house was Rp 2 million per month. (vny)

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