One of the criticisms that has been leveled at Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and his administration is that their efforts to normalize the city rivers and prevent flooding has almost exclusive involved the eviction of poor people living in illegal settlements. Ahok has always argued that he is only doing what needs to be done to fulfill his promise of preventing the devastating floods that have plagued Jakarta for so long (while also building low-cost apartments for the people displaced by those evictions).
Ahok has also said that his administration would tear down any buildings violating the integrity of the city’s rivers and causing flooding, whether they be illegal settlements or high-class commercial property. His vow will soon be put to the test as the government has set its sights on removing over 500 buildings in South Jakarta’s upscale Kemang neighborhood in order to normalize the flow of the Krukut River.
Kemang has long suffered from frequent flooding, but the past few months have shown that the lively area known for its concentration of trendy shops, bars and restaurants is particularly prone to high water levels even after short heavy downpours. Ahok says this is because of the larger number of buildings along the Krukut, which have significantly narrowed the river and prevented it from channeling water away efficiently.
Ahok vowed to start operations to normalize the Krukut this month and yesterday his vice governor, Djarot Saiful Hidayat went to Kemang to inspect the 503 river-adjacent buildings the administration has targeted to tear down – many of them luxury residential homes, offices and commercial buildings.
Djarot noted that most of the buildings set to be demolished had proper certificates, but that the government could legally remove them for violating laws protecting the sanctity of the river line. However, the government would likely still have to compensate them for the cost of the land, which would make it into an extremely pricey endeavor.
“If we are asked to compensate for the cost of the land it will be very expensive. We are trying to find a way (to reduce costs),” Djarot said as quoted by Kompas.
The government will also likely face numerous lawsuits from owners aimed at preventing their takeover of the land, but part of the administration’s plan is to argue that their original land and building permits were issued illegally in violation of environmental and zoning law.
The 503 buildings in Kemang slated for demolition are located along a three kilometer stretch of the Krukut, with the ultimate goal of widening it from it’s current width of about 3-4 meters to its original 20 meters. The government plans to issue letters of notice to all of the affected buildings by the end of this month.
