Demolition of 350 Houses in Surabaya

What is affected

	Housing private
	Land Social/public

Type of violation

Forced eviction
Demolition/destruction

Date

04 May 2009

Region

A [ Asia ]

Country

Indonesia

Location

Surabaya, East Java

Affected persons

	Total 1500
	Men 0
	Women 0
	Children 0

Proposed solution

Full reparations for victims. As of 11 May 2009, 470 evictees still live in roadside shelters.

Details

Surabaya Evictions.doc

Development

Forced eviction

Costs

€ 291000000

Demolition/destruction

Housing losses

- Number of homes

350

- Total value €

Duty holder(s) /responsible party(ies)

	State
	Local

Brief narrative

Article found at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/05/05/houses-along-kalimas-river-demolished.html
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HOUSES ALONG KALIMAS RIVER DEMOLISHED - Agnes S. Jayakarna, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta; May 5, 2009

"Praying could not stop public order officers from demolishing nearly 300 houses along the banks of the Kalimas River in Surabaya early Monday morning, as the East Java and Surabaya municipal administrations cleared the area to make way for a road.

Residents, who earlier sat together along Jl. Jagir, Wonokromo district reciting Shalawat (prayers to the Prophet Muhammad) in protest against the eviction, could in the
end only watch excavators destroy their houses.

Hundreds of police officers and a water cannon were prepared to secure the eviction, which started from the west side of the street (in front of state oil company PT Pertamina’s office).
“It’s not fair. We have told the officials that we reject eviction and relocation. We accept only renovation,” Rohini, one of the residents, said.

Despite their efforts, the residents were left helpless. Armudji, a member of Surabaya legislative council, said during the protest that the municipality had to talk with the residents before demolishing the houses.

But Armudji’s call did not stop officers from destroying the houses. The residents were forced to stop their sit-in protest and prayers to watch their houses be demolished. They have removed their belongings from their homes and placed them in a nearby area.

Utomo, the head of Surabaya Public Order Office, said that his office, together with police, deployed about 1,900 officers to guard the eviction. “We start to flatten the buildings around 4 a.m. The decision to demolish the illegal buildings was made by the East Java administration and the Surabaya municipality. We just do what we have to do and follow the regulations,”
Utomo claimed.

Meanwhile, the East Java Legislative Council’s Commission D met the provincial administration to discuss the Home Minister’s regulations on riverbanks, which state that the gap between residences and riverbanks must be at least 11 meters.

Based on a bylaw No. 9/2007 on Riverbanks, which was issued by the East Java legislative council, the administration ruled the gap between the houses in question was only three to five meters.

The councilors and the administration will seek a solution to the problem of the displaced people."

Costs

€ 291000000

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