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Governor and human rights body meet on Pluit, at long last
Pro-rights development?: Governor Joko âJokowiâ Widodo (center) planked by Chairwoman of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Siti Noor Laila (right) and monitoring and investigation commissioner Siane Indriani brief the media on their meeting
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Pro-rights development?: Governor Joko âJokowiâ Widodo (center) planked by Chairwoman of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Siti Noor Laila (right) and monitoring and investigation commissioner Siane Indriani brief the media on their meeting. Jokowi made a visit to the human rights bodyâs office on Friday to explain the eviction of residents in connection with the ongoing Pluit dam project in Penjaringan, North Jakarta. (Antara/M. Agung Rajasa.) (center) planked by Chairwoman of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Siti Noor Laila (right) and monitoring and investigation commissioner Siane Indriani brief the media on their meeting. Jokowi made a visit to the human rights bodyâs office on Friday to explain the eviction of residents in connection with the ongoing Pluit dam project in Penjaringan, North Jakarta. (Antara/M. Agung Rajasa.)
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span class="inline inline-none">Pro-rights development?: Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo (center) planked by Chairwoman of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Siti Noor Laila (right) and monitoring and investigation commissioner Siane Indriani brief the media on their meeting. Jokowi made a visit to the human rights body's office on Friday to explain the eviction of residents in connection with the ongoing Pluit dam project in Penjaringan, North Jakarta. (Antara/M. Agung Rajasa.)
Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo went to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Friday after declining to honor two previous summonses.
The commission called on the governor in its investigations of allegations that armed personnel used threats of force to evict squatters from city land in Muara Baru, North Jakarta.
Jokowi arrived at Komnas HAM's office in Menteng, South Jakarta, a little after 9 a.m., when he was greeted by commissioner Siane Indriani before proceeding to a closed-door meeting.
Speaking to reporters later, Komnas HAM chairwoman Siti Noor Laila expressed her appreciation for the governor's gesture.
'This morning, Jokowi, as the governor of Jakarta, has come to Komnas HAM with data that we will discuss thoroughly later,' Siti said. 'Komnas HAM and the city administration will work together to solve problems in the field, including how to continue the construction plan while ensuring the people's well-being.'
Siti said that the administration was obliged to communicate its plans to affected residents. 'We will also offer alternatives,' she added.
While conciliatory, Jokowi said that work on the projects that prompted the evictions, namely, normalizing the Pluit Dam, which has suffered from sedimentation, and building a waste management installation, would continue as scheduled.
'We will work together ' Komnas HAM and the administration. We will complement our data,' Jokowi said.
The governor acknowledged that evicting squatters from the Pluit Dam site had not been easy. 'I have met with them more than 20 times. There were different communities with different interests. The point is we want to resolve these issues.'
Meanwhile, Siane said that the commission was aware that not all the squatters, concentrated in an area comprising a quarter of the 80-hectare site, were impoverished.
'Our data indicates that there are 12,000 people there. We are aware that there are people who are trying to take advantage of the situation. But some others have IDs and KK [family cards] and deserve certain treatment,' Siane said.
'We want to make sure that these people get what they deserve,' she added, declining to provide exact numbers on those holding KTPs. 'We will need to verify the data first'.
Perhaps responding to comments made by Deputy Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama warning Komnas HAM not to get involved in an administrative issue, Siane said that the commission never intended to justify the occupation of idle land belonging to the administration.
'We just want to ensure that their rights are guaranteed and that they receive reliable information on the administration's programs,' Siane said.
Separately, Ahok said on Friday that the administration wanted to remove squatters from the Pluit Dam site to guarantee their well-being.
'If the area is flooded by sea water, it will collapse,' Ahok said at City Hall on Friday.
'Can you imagine what would happen to all those thousands of people? Won't it will much more dangerous for them?'
To date, the administration has relocated more than 400 families from the site to low-cost apartments in Marunda, Muara Angke and Muara Baru in North Jakarta, where they pay rents ranging from Rp 150,000 (US$15.45) to Rp 250,000.
The city has also allotted 2.3 hectares to build new apartments near the dam to accommodate 700 families and has announced plans to buy another 6-hectare plot nearby to build more low-cost apartments.
