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Thousands unite to halt evictions, seek dialogue
Jakarta Post - September 15, 2015
During a discussion held by Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) over the weekend, dozens of representatives of thousands of families agreed to cooperate to put a temporary stop to the ongoing evictions and seek to meet city officials for a solution and fight for their rights.
The discussion attracted dozens of evictees from Pinangsia in West Jakarta, and Kampung Pulo in East Jakarta, and people currently facing eviction from Bidaracina and Jatinegara Kaum in East Jakarta and Ancol in North Jakarta.
"We must stop these evictions, at least until we can sit down with the city administration to negotiate and find a solution," said Robin, a Bidaracina resident. He and his family will soon be evicted to make room for the underground tunnel project which connects the Ciliwung River to the East Flood Canal (KBT) to minimize flooding in East Jakarta.
Robin said that the city administration must give compensation to all evictees, whether or not they had land ownership certificates. He said that the he would continue to fight for his rights, despite Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's tough eviction policy.
Ahok has repeatedly said that he would not give compensation to residents without land ownership certificates and would only relocate them to available low-cost apartment units. He has also said that most residents, including those who live in Kampung Pulo and Pinangsia, lived on land owned by the city administration.
The Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) has recently released a review of regulations, saying that according to several laws, residents are entitled to compensation even if they are on state land. UPC referred to Article 3 in Law No. 2/2012 on Land Procurement for Public Facility and Article 17 in Presidential Regulation No. 71/2012.
"Residents deserve to be heard and receive compensation based on a consensual agreement between them and the city administration," Robin said.
Further, Ardi, a resident of Bukit Duri, located just across the river from Kampung Pulo, said that he and his neighbors would fight for what was rightfully theirs.
"We are residents who were not designed to live in apartments. We want to have a dialogue with Ahok and we want him to understand our situation," Ardi said.
LBH Jakarta lawyer Matthew Michele Lenggu said that all evictees deserved compensation, whether or not they had land ownership certificates. He added that the city administration often failed to prove that the land occupied by residents was owned by the city administration.
"Most residents do not have land ownership. However, the city administration also does not have evidence that they own those plots of land," Matthew said during the discussion. Thus, he argued, the residents deserved compensation.
"Compensation for the residents can be in the form of money, land, resettlement, shares, or in other forms that have been agreed upon between the institution and the residents. What must be underlined here is that the form of compensation must be agreed upon between the city administration and the evicted residents," Matthew said.
Matthew argued that the form of compensation provided by the city administration, which has been low-cost apartment units, had not been discussed with the residents.
He said that LBH Jakarta would facilitate the residents' discussions and advocate for them in order to meet with Ahok and his subordinates.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/09/15/thousands-unite-halt-evictions-seek-dialogue.html.
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