When the weird becomes the mundane

August 21, 2007

Indonesia is one of those placs where often the weird becomes the mundane.

Take, for instance, squatters living under turnpikes. For authorities to cose an eye and allow people to live under turnpikes is a weird concept, for officials to sanction people living under turnpikes – even though the decision was later reversed – is an even weirder concept.

But the authorities have turned a blind eye for so long that the weird has become mundane and people actually think they have right to live under turnpikes. If the government chase them away, the expect welfare and compensation. And for what? For doing something illegal in the first place.

So now we have an instance like Jembatan Tiga where a fire that broke out among the illegal houses under the turnpike have made two of the turnpikes three lanes unuseable by cars. Traffic jams now occur each day and no authority is being held responsible for allowing the squatters to live under the turnpikes in the first place.

Weird. But oh so mundane in Indonesia.

clipped from thejakartapost.com

A huge fire under the Jembatan Tiga turnpike early this month prompted the city administration to issue a decision regarding the relocation of all people living under or alongside expressways.

The decision was made in a meeting between the North Jakarta municipality, turnpike operator PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada, and state-owned turnpike developer PT Jasa Marga, as well as the Public Works Ministry.

According to data from the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), 4,646 families or 18,584 people are currently living under the 11-kilometers of elevated roads stretching from Tanjung Priok to Penjaringan, North Jakarta.

In 2002, the Housing Ministry issued a decree that temporarily allowed people to reside under turnpikes. However, in November 2006, the Public Works Ministry annulled that decree.

unspun

Indonesia

6 responses to “When the weird becomes the mundane”

Idiot_people

August 21, 2007 at 8:14 pm

That is the example of inconsistency of “idiot” government officer in Indonesia …
Another example is the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with Singapore ….

Baru sadar setelah tahu kecolongan …. Bloon banget …

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achmadsudarsono

August 22, 2007 at 12:09 pm

Comment below directed at author of “Weird is Mundane” in Indonesia…

The tone that comes across in the posting is that the people who live under the turnpikes have an “entitlement” complex.

I’d put it to you that these are very, very weak and marginalized people who are just trying – desperately – to survive, feed themselves, and scratch out any bare semblance of human fulfillment that’s possible under the brutal, pollution-filled, violence-filled, life under the tollroads and turnpikes.

Where are they supposed to live, would you suggest ? Get a haircut, get a job, some retort ? Alot of those people do have jobs, recycling rubbish, whoring themselves, begging, and when they can’t put up with it, just lying in their cardboard boxes starting at the ceiling.

The point is, jobs in Indonesia, even at 6.2 percent “official” growth, are a musical chairs game. Not everyone will get one. Not everyone has the contacts, the skills, or eduction to get one.

What are the left over people supposed to do ?

No easy answer to this. We’ve been struggling with it since the birth of industrialization.

But a Sutiyoso-type “war on beggars” which is one (but only one) logical outcome of your comments isn’t the answer.

I think you’re targeting the wrong people in the posting.

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unspun

August 22, 2007 at 12:17 pm

Achmad: Not really. The squatters get an “entitlement” complex only because the authorities are so disorganized and corrupt they cannot do two things they cannot enforce the law.

Proper enforcement of the law, of course, depends on providing people an alternative, like affordable housing.

So the weird becoming the mundane is an observation of how things that should not happen become accepted without any questions in Indonesia, not an indictment on squatters.

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Achmad Sudarsono

August 24, 2007 at 10:21 am

Well the two things they can do, it seems is be corrupt and disorganized at the same time…:-)

But by affordable housing — is that a possible suggestion towards council housing, (uk), projects (US), or “govvies” (Australia). That’s a pretty complex debate over public policy, isn’t it ? It’s not a slam dunk to say the government should just build them.

In the meantime, I’m still not quite clear why people shouldn’t be allowed to live under turnpikes, or tollroads or bridges. (We trolls often live under bridges).

Also, realistically, the government won’t be able to fully enforce the law, or at least to most rich-country standards for decades. In the meantime, how bout they enforce the laws against the rich ?

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Oigal

August 25, 2007 at 5:31 pm

“(We trolls often live under bridges). ”

Which is a valid point!! Havn’t these poor people suffered enough without running the chance (not matter how remote) of having to listen to Assmad in the (crawling) flesh.

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Achmad Sudarsono

August 28, 2007 at 3:21 pm

That’d be reading, Oigal, and I think internet access is a little patchy in the slum tenements.

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