Jakarta ( WNAM MONITORING): Minister of Housing and Settlements Maruarar Sirait stated that people living under bridges will be relocated to proper housing.
“According to President Prabowo’s instructions, we must take care of them, provide decent housing, develop their skills, empower them, and provide livelihoods,” Sirait noted in Jakarta on Friday.
The minister emphasized that relocating people living under bridges to proper housing must be conducted comprehensively.
“The relocation must be carried out comprehensively, with proper data collection by the provincial government, to ensure it is right on target, does not encourage urbanization from other areas, and people do not return to living under bridges in Jakarta,” he explained.
Sirait held a meeting with the minister of home affairs, the vice minister of social affairs, the head of the Presidential Communication Office, and the acting governor of DKI Jakarta to discuss the relocation of people living under bridges.
Earlier, Vice Minister of Housing and Settlements Fahri Hamzah encouraged state-owned construction enterprises (BUMN Karya) involved in the construction of flyovers and toll roads to provide suggestions for controlling settlements under bridges.
“BUMN Karya colleagues need to provide more detailed suggestions on how to solve the issue of settlements under the bridges. So far, BUMN Karya has been heavily involved in the construction of bridges and toll roads,” he remarked.
In addition to regularizing settlements under bridges, Hamzah also sought the involvement of all parties to consider solutions to regulating settlements on riverbanks.
He noted that in the future, all stakeholders should make a decision to relocate all houses or buildings along riverbanks, though taking into account aspects, such as river normalization and arrangement of the area.
