JAKARTA. A clash between security forces and Kalijododo residents seems unavoidable as the latter has vowed to fight the Jakarta administration’s plan to shut down the red-light-district, saying that many buildings, especially mosques and churches in the area, were built with official land certificates.

“If, according to the city’s urban planning documents, this area was allocated for open green space, the National Land Agency [BPN] shouldn’t have issued land certificates for the buildings. Certificates for these buildings were issued by the BPN, an official government agency,” Kalijodo residents’ lawyer Razman Arif Nasution told journalists on Tuesday.

Razman further said the government had misused its authority regarding the issuance of the land certificates. The lawyer said that he and Kalijodo residents were collecting data on which buildings in the area had official land certificates. Most houses in Kalijodo have only a Letter C certificate, which is issued by a neighborhood unit head and used as the basis for the city administration to determine land taxes that residents must pay.

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Razman deplored the attitude the Jakarta administration had shown with its recently announced plan to transform the Kalijodo area into a green open space, saying that for many years it had not expressed any objection to residents living in the area. That was why, he said, many Kalijodo residents had been living and making their livelihoods in the area for generations.

The lawyer further said Kalijodo residents also resented the method Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama had used to announce his plan to shut down the area.

Razman said Jakarta administration officers, backed up by police personnel, had announced the Kalijodo removal by simply putting up notices of the plan on the walls of buildings in the area. He said the move had shocked residents.

“We don’t want to hear anyone claiming that Ahok will complete the eviction in one month. They [Kalijodo residents] are not animals. Just come here and discuss the plan with us,” he said.

The Jakarta administration’s plan to remove the Kalijodo area has been widely perceived as discriminatory, as the administration has never taken action against the owners of Season City and Taman Anggrek Mall, which were both built on land allocated for open green spaces.

Razman further said that many prostitution hotspots could be found in Mangga Dua and Pesing, but the Jakarta administration had never take any action against them because they were upmarket areas, not like Kalijodo, which was home to low-class prostitution.

“All Indonesian people are equal before the law. So we hope that the Jakarta administration officers do not act with impropriety here,” Razman said.

Daeng Azis, a Kalijodo figure, said all Kalijodo residents would not hesitate to fight the eviction plan.

“We don't want our rights to be disregarded, even for a moment. We can also file a lawsuit against the administration as we now have a legal team to represent us. Don't force us to fight this eviction," Daeng said.

On Monday, Kalijodo residents officially submitted a letter to the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD), asking for protection. Previously, they have also asked for protection from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

The Kalijodo residents have called on into question the Jakarta administration’s plan to turn Kalijodo into an open green space.

One of the representatives of Kalijodo, Leonard Eko, questioned the administration’s reluctance to hand over to them a copy of the city’s open green spaces map.

“When was Kalijodo mapped out as a green open space? The City Spatial Planning Agency has never told us about the open green spaces map,” he said.

Leonard further said that if the administration wanted to return Kalijodo to its original function, it had to be able to prove to residents that the area was initially allocated as an open green space.

He said Kalijodo residents had fought for land certificates for a long time but the BPN had always complicated the process of securing legal status for their land.

Leonard said he had been living in Kalijodo since 2000 and had also been hampered by these complicated procedures. He said that all Kalijodo residents would refuse low-cost apartments offered by the Jakarta administration and would continue to fight for their right to live in Kalijodo. (Callistasia Anggun Wijaya)