[Kabar-indonesia] JP: Forced evictions start with the 'f' sound

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Forced evictions start with the 'f' sound

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta may be almost half a millennium old, but when it
comes to fire it is nothing more than a child whose
fascination with burning stuff started at an early age.

But in a city where more than 300 fires break out every
year, there are many reasons for playing with fire.

Fire has become Jakarta's most "pragmatic" method of urban
renewal. It is considered a "social approach" to wiping out
the unwanted, activists and sociologists say.

During the Idul Fitri holiday, fire destroyed four houses in
Central Jakarta's Kebon Melati. The three blackened outer
walls of one of the houses -- all that was left behind --
provide a stark contrast to the imposing trade center
standing behind them.

"We have been offered compensation for leaving the area
several times, but are yet to come to an agreement," said
Sholeh, a resident of the desolate neighborhood unit that
has "spoiled the view" of Jakarta City Center.

The project's management, however, has denied any relation
between the ongoing construction and the fire.

Revisiting a fire-ravaged market in South Jakarta's Melawai
compound gives one a pretty good idea of what the squatter
settlement in Kebon Melati will come to look like.

The fire, which occurred in late August 2005, claimed the
life of firefighter Subandi and razed several old blocks of
Melawai market.

Surrounded by the makeshift stalls of traders from the old
market, the site is on its way to becoming a mix-used area
consisting of a hotel, apartments and a shopping center.

Interviewed after last year's fire, Prabowo Soenirman, the
president director of city market operator PD Pasar Jaya,
initially denied vendors' claims the market was going to be
redeveloped, as well as any link between the fire and the
project.

And the list goes on: In January 2003, 111 kiosks in Senen
Market in Central Jakarta were destroyed by fire. The Senen
area is currently being redeveloped. In February 2003, fire
razed 2,200 kiosks in Southeast Asia's largest textile
market, Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.

Two years later, a 14-story air-conditioned modern market
stands on the site.

Forensic investigation of fires like those in Tanah Abang
and Melawai generally state the cause and origin as a short
circuit, or "unknown".
Occurring mostly in densely populated or slum neighborhoods,
where the presence of short circuit faults in electrical
cables or cords is a latent fire hazard, or in old
marketplaces where fire safety systems are substandard, such
a conclusion might be justified.

But they are also tools for urban planning and evictions and
thus reflect conflicts between different actors in the
control and use of urban space, Jerome Tadie of the
Institute for Development Research in France said.

Fires involve actors ranging from the government to the
inhabitants and less formal intermediaries, he added.

National Police Headquarters' physics forensic investigator
Adj. Comr. Darmawan said investigation results indicated a
very small percentage of fires were caused by short
circuits.

This contrasts with Jakarta Fire Department data, according
to which almost 70 percent of fires are caused by short
circuits.

"We often run into problems investigating fires. The
evidence may be incomplete because the building owners have
already been in there, salvaging their belongings," Darmawan
said

Of the 300 fires that are reported each year on average,
less than half are investigated, while the cause of the
others remains a mystery.

"Fire is indeed an easy way to wipe out an area without
being caught as the evidence literally goes up in smoke," he
said.

Low-cost apartments in the city, for example, are almost
always built on sites were squatter settlements were
previously burned down.

International Human Rights Watch criticized in its September
report the Jakarta administration for the significant number
of cases of forced eviction in the city, including those
allegedly involving arson.

The report cited Governor Sutiyoso as saying "these
evictions are only to give the people a lesson to respect
the law, as legal certainty is one of the major concerns of
investors in the capital".

International human rights law, however, requires that all
people are protected against forced eviction, regardless of
the absence of land title deeds or legal occupancy.

Many people who occupy land in Jakarta do not enjoy the
right to housing because it is not available to them or too
costly, the report said.

Sociologist Imam Prasodjo said the city administration's
focus on only the legal status of squatters or traders was
exactly what prompted its "pragmatic" fire approach.

The approach is further justified as the process of
acquiring land is often held up by middlemen who cause land
values to rise.
"Despite being common knowledge, as long as there is no
independent investigation of the cases, they will never be
proven arson," he said.

------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------