GOVT TO RELOCATE CILIWUNG RIVER BANK SQUATTERS

Jakarta, Dec. 5 (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono said the government would relocate people currently living on the banks of the Ciliwung river in Jakarta.

The relocation was needed to prevent further environmental damages and floods, Minister Laksono said after inspecting the Ciliwung River in a rubber boat here on Saturday.

The minister said his ministry would discuss the relocation plan and the Ciliwung river environmental improvement program with the Jakarta authorities, the public works ministry, the public housing ministry and the national agrarian agency.

"These plans need serious and integrated actions. We will report about the plans to the President for the follow up actions. The views on river banks must be improved and the relocation must be carried out without hurting the people's dignity," he said.

The government would relocate about 70,000 families consisting of roughly 350,000 people living in houses constructed along the river to safer areas, he said.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, meanwhile, said his provincial administration shared the central government's view regarding the relocation of people living on Ciliwung river banks.

"So, we will not only build houses for them but also think about their economic livelihoods. The focus will be on the people's welfare. It's not only a physical matter," he said.

He emphasized that his administration would draft an integrated plan first before relocating the people who had been living in slums on the river's banks since the 1980s.

"It will take time. It might be one, or two or even five years. It needs harmonization and synergy at central and local government levels such as sub districts and neighborhood associations," he said.

Minister Agung Laksono cruised on the Ciliwung river in rubber boat with Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al-Jufri and Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo on Saturday morning.

They inspected the river starting from Kampung Melayu to the Manggarai watergate in rubber boats to see the impacts of the city's environmental programs.