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for them in the settlement area as well.
the government fails to complete the
Besides, government leaders frequently
construction of all low-rent housing.
communicate with local squatters and
The main difficulty is that it is hard
listen to their wishes.
for the government to find new land to build affordable housing for immigrants,
2. Challenge of the Initiative
(1) Increase of Living Cost for Reservoir Immigrants
because in Jakarta, the land is privately owned and very expensive. Besides, overexploitation in the urban area has
Although moving to low-rent
almost occupied all of the city’s idle
housing will enable squatters to have
lands. For the Government, whether
access to better living environment and
enough lands can be found for the
be free from flooding and the threat of
building of affordable housing is the
other diseases, many squatters argued that
key condition for the sustainability of
their living cost will be largely increased
the project.
after moving. Although the rent for every month is only USD one, they used to live on the river bank for free with no cost of property management and they could even make money by renting out extra
Practice and Innovation 1. Revolutionary Innovation
houses. In addition, affordable housing
The project is revolutionary. A strong
is not allowed to be sold and squatters
leadership is the crucial point. Over the
no longer have property rights. They
past 20 years, the main challenge is to
believe that at least the houses on the
relocate the squatters without harassing
river bank are owned by them. Therefore,
their human rights so that the physical
many squatters were actually unwilling
improvements should be done. The
to relocate, and they once organized
solution lies in the governor himself
themselves to go to the provincial
directly consoling the people, listening
government for protest.
to their problems and aspirations, and
(2) Difficulties for the Government to Find Settlement Area for Immigrants
communicating with them frequently. At the same time, he also called on
Although more than 2,500 people
the private sectors to donate furniture
have been properly relocated, there are
for the new housing and explained the
still at least more than 10,000 people
importance of maintaining the reservoir
needing to be resettled. However,
area to the residents.