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Bandung's evicted residents keep fighting despite defeats. Here's why.
Residents say the land they called home also provided incomes for their families, something they fear they will lose if they move out.
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Residents who have refused to vacate their homes in Taman Sari, Bandung, West Java, hold posters during the hearing at Bandung Administrative Court on Dec. 19. The court ruled in favor of the city administration, which wants to build housing on the land the residents have called home for decades. (JP/Arya Dipa)
T
he Bandung Administrative Court in West Java has ruled in favor of the Bandung administration in a land-dispute case in community unit (RW) 11 in Taman Sari subdistrict, days after the administration forcefully evicted residents who had resisted an order to vacate the land they had called home for decades.
Two residents, Sambas Sadikin and Budi Rahayu, filed their case in court, asking for a postponement to allow them to vacate the land and challenging the environmental permit issued for the Bandung administration to build low-cost apartments on the land.
Presiding judge Yarman said the court did not find any fault in the procedure leading up to the issuance of the environmental permit. He said the residents who rejected the apartment plan were “obstructing the public interest”.
One of the residents’ lawyers from Bandung Legal Aid Institute, Gugun Kurniawan, said they would file an appeal. “The judges failed to see the history of the land ownership; both plaintiffs had lived there for a long time,” Gugun said.
Dozens of residents have persistently defended their right to occupy the land despite court defeats and demolitions.
On Dec. 12, Bandung’s public order officers became involved in a violent dispute with several of the residents. The officers claimed the residents threw stones at them so they responded but in videos and photos, many of which have gone viral online, officers appeared to use excessive force in the handling of one man. The residents have also been supported by young activists in Bandung.
