The residents of Kampung Akuarium are set to move into their new kampung susun (vertical village) homes starting next week, after the Jakarta governor inaugurated the new buildings on Tuesday.
ome residents of Kampung Akuarium in Penjaringan, North Jakarta are set to move into their new home next week after Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan inaugurated the first phase of the new Kampung Susun Akuarium in the area on Tuesday.
Bangkit Mandiri Akuarium Cooperative head Dharma Diani said residents were expected to move into the new buildings next week, adding that currently checks were being made to ensure that they met the necessary safety standards.
"For now, [the new buildings] are being checked to ensure that the apartments are ready to house [residents],” Dharma said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday.
The Bangkit Mandiri Akuarium Cooperative is a community cooperative set up by residents of Kampung Akuarium. The cooperative is also set to manage the new kampung susun (vertical village) following consultation with the Jakarta administration, according to Jakarta Housing and Settlement Agency acting head Sarjoko.
“In principle, [Rumah Susun Akuarium] will be managed by a community cooperative,” Sarjoko said as reported by kompas.com on Thursday, adding, however, that the details of the arrangement were still being discussed between relevant stakeholders.
The first phase of the kampung susun consists of two five-story towers that contain 107 apartments. The Jakarta administration is currently constructing three other towers, which will bring the kampung susun’s total capacity to 241 apartments, which are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The total cost of the project is estimated at Rp 62 billion (US$4.3 million). It is funded under a developer obligation fund from PT Almaron Perkasa, a subsidiary of property giant PT Lippo Karawaci.
Read also: New Kampung Akuarium brings hope for better living
The homes in Kampung Susun Akuarium will be exclusively offered to residents who were evicted from the site, which used to be an informal urban settlement, in 2016. At the time, then-governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama evicted the residents, claiming that the settlement had been built on top of land owned by the city market operator PD Pasar Jaya.
Incumbent governor Anies Baswedan, meanwhile, had a radically different approach from his predecessor, with his administration building a temporary shelter in 2018 to house the evictees and promising to rebuild Kampung Akuarium.
In a statement, Anies said the new vertical village was part of his administration’s mission to provide equitable housing for Jakarta residents.
“The development of Kampung Susun Akuarium is a strategic program for the Jakarta administration, particularly in terms of improving the quality of the residential area, with the aim of providing equitable [access] to housing,” said Anies.
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