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Residents demand compensation for river-restoration project
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Workers install sheet piling along the Ciliwung Kecil River in Jakarta on Sept. 28. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
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number of residents of Cililitan in Kramatjati, East Jakarta, flocked to the Jakarta Water Resource Agency in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday, demanding the agency compensate them for giving up their land for a past river-restoration project.
A resident named Ratna Sari, 41, said she and other residents went to the agency’s office to urge the city administration to pay the compensation as soon as possible. The city had acquired the land for the project in 2013, but there was no clarity as to when when residents would get paid.
“[The city] has been saying that they will pay us in December for years. So many Decembers have passed, we’ve received nothing,” she said as quoted by kompas.com.
The 41-year-old claimed that she had given up two plots of land, which were worth Rp 1.2 billion (US$ 79,025) and Rp 112 million. Without the compensation from the city, the residents said they did not have enough resources to move to new places.
“My neighbor’s house has subsided after being eroded by floods. They should immediately move, but they don’t have money to find a new place to live,” Ratna said.
“We support the city’s plan. But where’s our money?” she added.
The agency’s land procurement unit head Yunaldi said he would coordinate with other agencies to speed up the compensation process.
“I hope that we can disburse the compensation in mid-December,” he said. (vla)
