Resistance to eviction in Muara Baru from only a few

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Tue, May 21 2013,


Two months after the first row of houses in Muara Baru, North Jakarta, as demolished by the city administration, dozens of squatters remain defiant and are occupying one of the last buildings standing to prevent its destruction.

They said that the house, owned by a heavy equipment renter, was their last bastion. The administration could not provide them with a new place after destroying all their shanties, or so they said.

The first phase of evictions, on the western bank of Pluit Dam, was part of Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s plan to overcome seasonal flooding that has plagued the city for decades.

The city recorded that at least 6,000 houses built from cement and plywood had stood there for years, with some built over the water. The squatters totaled around 12,000.

The city said the homes interfered with the dam’s function to hold water during rainy seasons and were built on a designated green area. The dam has also experienced sedimentation and therefore is in need of rehabilitation.

Penjaringan district secretary Yani Wahyu Purwoko said people from more than 1,000 houses had been evicted.

Of the number, only four buildings remain occupied, all of which are used for business. Shanties on the other sides of the dam will be demolished in the next phase, which Jokowi said would start after housing was prepared.

The squatters holding out in the building said they would stand their ground, claiming that the owner had surrendered the place to them for shelter.

Ros, one of the occupants, said the administration had never held talks with them and they therefore rejected relocation.

“We want Jokowi to come here personally to talk with us,” she said, refuting the governor’s claim of frequent talks with the squatters.

She said she would fight back if public order officers (Satpol PP) moved in to demolish the two-story, plywood structure.

Ros and a few others may remain defiant, but Sutindang Cahaya, 53, a squatter from Makassar, South Sulawesi, said she would not argue with authorities should they knock on her door.

“We don’t want any problems here. I will leave this place and find a new home after they [the city] compensate us,” she said. “It’s useless to fight eviction, because it will happen anyway.”

Another squatter whose shanty was torn down said most of the resistance came from residents who did business in the area, especially collecting rent.

“Many are from outside Java, and they profit from this area, by, for example, renting out houses,” the source, who declined to be named, said. “The men with the money aren’t here, but their friends run it from here. They are the ones shouting the loudest.”

At the site, many of her neighbors display signs offering rooms for rent.

North Jakarta Satpol PP operations and law enforcement chief Salmon Nadapdap said the demolishing order for the remaining houses was ready. “We just need a go.”

The unavailability of public housing promised by the Jakarta administration was another reason for the resistance.

To date, the administration has relocated more than 400 families from the site to low-cost apartments in Marunda, Muara Angke and Muara Baru in North Jakarta, where they pay rent ranging from Rp 150,000 (US$15.45) to Rp 250,000 per month. But the apartments can only accommodate half of them as most units are still under repair and lack utilities.

Basuki, however, has stated that he would provide no compensation for squatters in the next phase.

According to the deputy governor, up to 80 percent of Pluit Dam dwellers were tenants.

“They rent the houses from landlords who occupied thousands of meters of the site and built houses without permits. One of the landlords later asked us to compensate him Rp 20 million per square meter,” he said.