

Multa Fidrus
The Jakarta Post/Tangerang
The Jakarta Post/Tangerang
The Tangerang regental administration forced some 250 residents living around the bank of small lake (Setu) Antap in Rempoa subdistrict, East Ciputat district out of the their homes on Wednesday.
Escorted by dozens of officers from the South Jakarta police and Garnizun, hundreds of officers from the regency Public Order Agency public order demolished the residents’ houses after previously removing all their belongings.
The demolishion lasted peacefully although a number activists from the Unity of Students’s Anti Violence Action (Kompak) staged a rally in protest to the eviction by sitting together on the road heading to the lake bank to block a buldozer’s way.
To avoid physical collision with the protesters, officers then decided to demolish the houses manually.
“We leave it all up to the God. We have struggled through a long winding road in order that we are allowed to stay but to no avail,” said Nukman, 48, one the residents who has lived there since 1981,” told The Jakarta Post.
He said that residents were actually willing to leave the land as long as they were asked to do so by the Banten provincial Water Resources Management Center (BPSDA) that controls the land.
Accoding to Nukman, regent Ismet Iskandar issued a written order on April 17, 2007 , asking the residents to vacate the area because the land they were occupying had been bought by the late Darnelis, the mother in-law of PP Muhamadiyah’s chairman Din Samsudin.
“It’s hard to believe that the lake, a state assest had been sold to the property business women who died of heart attack in Garuda plane accident in Jogyakarta in 2006 for the expansion of the Beranda Rempoa Minimalist Town House,” he said.
Neanwhile, Bambang Setia Budi, 49, another evicted resident said that he was offered Rp 10 million in compensation but like many others, he was not willing to take the money as well.
He said that all residents living on the lake bank did realize that the land belongs to BPSDA and therefore they refused to leave their homes built on the land just for the interests of business.
“At first, residents were relieved when they heard Darnelis died in the plane accident because they thought that the eviction efforts would no longer continue but we were wrong in fact,” he said.
Joko Suryanto, BPSDA chief said that BPSDA never sold the lake to any individuals because it is the state’s asset.
“Setu Antap functions as water catchment area and the form of the small lake still exist,” he said.
However, Tolib Effendi, head of the Tangerang regental public order agency who lead the demolishion admitted that order to demolish the residents’ house was signed by regent Ismet Iskandar on April 17.
“The administration will return the function of the lake as water catchment area and this is in line with the ongoing river and lake revitalization program funded by the central government,” he said.
Effendi denied residents’ accusation, saying that the lake had been sold to the property developer.
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