Dozens of shacks on the West Flood Canal inspection road were demolished by the Central Jakarta administration on Monday.
Most squatters had abandoned their shacks on the 1-kilometer road before officers arrived at 9 a.m.
Central Jakarta Mayor Mangara Pardede said the squatters had left because the city had informed them about the planned demolition three times in the last week.
"There were around 131 shacks set up here, and we only have to clean up around 50 of them," he said.
The squatters living on the riverbank have been a major obstacle to the ongoing flood-mitigation project in the Ciliwung River as heavy equipment could not pass through the densely populated area.
The Ciliwung restoration project, implemented by Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Control Office (BBWSCC) under the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, is divided into four sections with a total length of about 19 km, extending from Manggarai to the Jl. TB Simatupang area in South Jakarta.
The project is budgeted at Rp 1.18 trillion (US$88.5 million).
Mangara said the BBWSCC would continually monitor the road after the eviction, which was conducted by hundreds of officers from the Jakarta Public Order Agency and Facility Maintenance Agency. (dis)
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