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After forced eviction, Semarang fishermen insist on living near sea
After their houses were demolished last week, 97 fishermen families have refused to relocate to a prepared low-cost apartment that is far from the sea and have negotiated with the Semarang administration to move to a nearby location
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span>After their houses were demolished last week, 97 fishermen families have refused to relocate to a prepared low-cost apartment that is far from the sea and have negotiated with the Semarang administration to move to a nearby location.
In a forum between the administration and hundreds of Tambakrejo residents, mediated by Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, the city finally agreed to relocate the residents to nearby Kalimati.
The Semarang administration forcefully evicted 97 families from Tambakrejo on Thursday after they refused to move to a low-cost apartment in Kudu, 10 kilometers away from their neighborhood. After the forced eviction, they stayed under a bridge and in makeshift tents erected by volunteers.
“It’s impossible for you all to stay in tents,” Ganjar said in the meeting. He reiterated the administration’s offer to relocate them to Kudu, but the residents refused and insisted on continuing to live in the area because of their occupation as fishermen.
“If we stay far from here, what would become of us,” said Tambakrejo resident Rohmadi.
He cited a previous agreement stating that affected people would temporarily move to Kalimati, not far from Tambakrejo. However, the site had to be filled with soil first before temporary buildings could be built there.
“But before the administration made good on its promise, they already evicted us like this,” Rohmadi said.
Riyanto, another Tambakrejo resident, expressed the same sentiment. “We don’t want to move to Kudu because it is too far from the sea. We just want simple houses built for us in Kalimati,” he said.
After tough negotiation, the city administration finally relented.
Gusdurian Network condemned the “repressive” act by Semarang city public order officers against the fishermen families. In a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Monday, the network said the officers had demolished the families’ houses for a flood mitigation project called the East Flood Canal, displacing hundreds of people.
Gusdurian Network, a group inspired by the values of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur, said a previous agreement between the city administration and the affected families, mediated by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the city would provide a low-cost apartment building not far from their current location.
They also agreed to a temporary shelter near their neighborhood while waiting for the apartment building to be completed. But the residents and Gusdurian Network said the administration broke their promise and evicted them anyway.
“This cannot be justified for whatever reason,” the statement said.
Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi said the eviction of the 97 families was not a spontaneous move. They had been informed beforehand to move to the apartment in Kudu because their houses were to be flattened for the river “normalization” program.
River “normalization” is a technical term introduced by the Public Works and Housing Ministry, which involves installing concrete sheet piles along the river embankment and building asphalt or concrete road along the river.
Hendrar defended the action, saying that because the residents had not obeyed the order, they had to demolish the kampung.
