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Ex-Kampung Bayam residents struggle with life at Rusun Nagrak
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A former Kampung Bayam resident gets water from a well on May, 30, 2024, in their temporary shelter on Jl. Tongkol, Pademangan, North Jakarta. The Jakarta administration plans to build a new apartment complex to accommodate the residents, who were evicted to make way for the construction of the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS) in 2020. (ANTARA FOTO/Erlangga Bregas Prakoso)
T
he lives of evicted Kampung Bayam residents who now live at low-cost apartment complex (Rusun) Nagrak in Cilincing, North Jakarta, have become more complex as they have to wake up at dawn to reach their respective schools or workplaces located close to their former neighborhood in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.
Ghufron, a nine-year-old student at state elementary school SD Sunter Agung 09, begins his day around 4.30 every morning to ensure that he catches the bus on time. It takes him two hours to reach the school located in front of the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS), which was built atop Kampung Bayam after it was razed to the ground some four years ago.
“When I still lived in Kampung Bayam, my father walked me to school. Now, I have to take the bus,” Ghufron said, adding that he could not go straight home after school at around 11 a.m. since the bus does not depart for Cilincing for another three hours.
A junior high school student named Della shared a similar experience with Ghufron. She often arrives home late at night because she has to attend extracurricular activities.
Apart from the children, adults like Restu, 21, also have had to travel long distances to work since moving to Rusun Nagrak in September last year. The residents say the apartment complex is isolated from the center of economic activities.
Read also: Ex-Kampung Bayam residents join hands to survive difficult times
Nagrak's remote location poses another challenge for former Kampung Bayam residents working in the informal sector. Thoiroh, for instance, struggles to keep her food stall going as very few buyers stop by.
