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ITF Sunter: Affected residents attend financial course
Even though construction on the Intermediate Treatment Facility (ITF) in Sunter, North Jakarta, has shown no progress since its groundbreaking in late 2018, its developer has disbursed financial compensation to most of the families that were displaced by the project
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span>Even though construction on the Intermediate Treatment Facility (ITF) in Sunter, North Jakarta, has shown no progress since its groundbreaking in late 2018, its developer has disbursed financial compensation to most of the families that were displaced by the project.
PT Jakarta Solusi Lestari (JSL), a joint-venture company formed by city-owned developer PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) and Finnish energy company Fortum that was tasked to develop the ITF, also held a financial management course for residents on Monday on how to manage their money.
Titin Suhentin, 38, was among the participants. Originally from Karawang regency, West Java, Titin said she was initially shocked by the relocation but was later relieved she would be compensated Rp 39 million (US$2,820).
She conceded, however, that she had not known how to properly manage what to her was a large amount of money.
“I spent all of it. I paid for my children’s school fees and I renovated my husband’s house in Karawang,” Titin said, adding that she had learned a lot from JSL’s financial management course.
The mother of four now lives in another rented tenement house in a better environment in Jembatan Hitam, North Jakarta. A coffee seller and sometimes scavenger, Titin relocated to Jakarta seven years ago with her husband, who is also a scavenger, and their two young children. Her other two children were sent to a school in Tangerang, Banten, as Jakarta “is the city of brawls”.
Also attending the course on Monday was 41-year-old Darini, who brought along her 4-month-old son. Darini received Rp 46 million in damages by the company and moved to a rented tenement house in Kampung Baru, North Jakarta, after she received the first payment in August.
The mother of three from Purbalingga regency, Central Java, had lived in a semipermanent tenement house in Sunter since moving to Jakarta in 2013. Darini and her husband used to sell chicken porridge for a living, but after receiving the compensation money, they switched to selling nasi goreng (fried rice) as they thought it would be more profitable.
Thirty-five residents of the area who had been impacted by the ITF project were invited to take part in Monday’s financial management course, all of them women. During their training, they were divided into six groups and given Rp 10 million in play money to manage. The six groups of women joyfully spent the money on rent, bills, food and daily allowance for the children, before saving the rest.
The simulation showed that most of the residents still preferred to spend their money on daily expenditures rather than save it. At the end of the course, one of the trainers reminded the participants not to spend too much on unnecessary purchases such as snacks and kitchen appliances.
“We have disbursed 90 percent of the compensation funds [for each affected family], paid via two separate bank transfers. The remaining 10 percent will be made available through Takera credit union in Central Jakarta,” JSL communications and stakeholders manager Linda Gurning said.
JSL has compensated 116 families. Each received between Rp 20 million and Rp 100 million, based on an assessment made by a public appraisal firm, Linda said.
She added that the company had decided to compensate the residents even though they had no legal rights to the land, which belongs to state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia. (trn)
