The harshest criticism leveled at Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purna (besides, y’know, the whole blasphemy thing) has been directed towards his policy of evicting the residents of slums throughout the Jakarta and relocating them to low-cost housing. Ahok has consistently and unapologetically argued that the evictions were essential to normalizing Jakarta’s rivers and preventing flooding.
But many residents of those areas and human rights activists claim that the evictions done under Ahok’s administration have been cruel, carried out inhumanely and, in some cases, done illegally. Many have argued that the evictions were just as important or even a larger factor than religion in losing Ahok the support of Jakarta’s poor.
Ahok’s rival Anies Baswedan, who is widely believed to have won last week’s runoff election based on the unofficial quick count results, certainly used the issue of evictions to court voters. His running mate, Sandiaga Uno, previously promised, “Anies and I will not evict residents forcefully from their homes. We’ll sit together to hear what solutions they want the most. No more tears.”
After his unofficial win last week, Anies reiterated those promises at a mosque in Bukit Duri, one of the areas affected by evictions.
Some residents of Pasar Ikan and Kampung Aquarium in North Jakarta, another area in which mass evictions took place last year, have taken Anies’ words to mean that the governor-elect will not be carrying out any more evictions in the future and on that basis have begun rebuilding homes on land that Ahok’s government has declared they do not have any right to.
Reporters from Wartakotalive.com saw some of the people rebuilding homes on the razed ground yesterday, and most seem convinced that Ahok would no longer disturb them with his plans to redevelop the area around Sunda Kelapa for tourism. Furthermore, some of them said that Anies has promised to allow them to rebuild their settlements.
“We are sure that, with the election of Pak Anies and Pak Sandi, the settlement that we are painstakingly building up again will not be torn down again like it was under Ahok,” said 40-year-old Kampung Aquarium villager Adi as quoted by Kompas.
Another local told reporters they were confident in rebuilding on the same land they had been evicted from before and that they were sure that Anies and Sandi would have no problem with it.
Reporters noted that some of the residents were attempting to build new structures using stones from the area’s previously demolished buildings.
Ujang, a fisherman from Pasar Ikan who is currently living in a tent, said that he believed the new governor would fulfill his promises to support Jakarta’s poor.
“Almost all of us work as fishermen and since our homes were dismantled we have become unemployed. I hope Pak Anies and Pak Sandi will make the poor people feel prosperous, safe, and comfortable,” Ujang said.
