One of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama top priorities has been to rid the Indonesian capital of its yearly floods. But he recently admitted to journalists that there was no way he could rid the city of floods this year.
A major reason for that, Ahok told reporters with exasperation this morning, is that there are still too many illegal slum settlements along rivers and under bridges that fill the rivers with trash and prevent flood prevention protocols like pump repairs.
The governor complained that every time his administration tried to “normalize” these areas by evicting the people illegally living there, he is accused of violating human rights.
“The pumps are not yet ready and therefore the conditions (for a Jakarta free of floods is not there yet), so do not tell me to violate human rights again,” Ahok told reporters at City Hall this morning, as quoted by Tribunnews.
Then Ahok asked the journalists whether allowing citizens to endure floodwaters up to 60-70 cm high was not also a violation of human rights.
“Now I am wondering, if it’s a choice between millions of people getting flooded or removing 5,000-10,000 people living along the river, which one is violating human rights? So please, we must be fair,” Ahok said.
So in the interests of being fair, we’ll mention that, while Ahok’s administration is removing thousands of people from their homes in illegal settlements, he is also working to build low cost apartment towers, in part to house those displaced by his policies.
