TEMPO Interaktif
Kamis, 25 Januari 2007
Pemerintah Jakarta Pusat akan menertibkan pedagang kaki lima di kawasan Pasar Senen besok malam. Penertiban dilakukan menjelang beroperasinya jalur busway Koridor IV yang melintasi kawasan itu.
Camat Senen, Hidayatullah, mengatakan penertiban akan digelar pada pukul 20.00 WIB besok. Ada 418 pedagang kaki lima di sana.
Hidayatullah mengatakan kehadiran mereka sanga mengganggu kelancaran lalu lintas di Stasiun Senen dan Jalan Gunung Sahari. Maka, jauh-jauh hari para pedagang sudah dikabari soal rencana peneribtan tersebut.
Arus lalu lintas di Jalan Gunung Sahari memang selalu macet saban hari. Para pedagang kaki lima dan penjual pakaian bekas tumpah sampai ke badan jalan. Kondisi ini kian parah setelah jalur busway dibangun.
Walbed, 40 tahun, salah seorang pedagang handuk di emperan Blok 6 Pasar Senen menolak penggusuran itu. Menurutnya aparat pemerintah tidak pernah memberikan tanggal pasti kapan pelaksanaan penertiban.
Walbed membenarkan bahwa seminggu yang lalu ada surat edaran dari Camat. "Nanti saya mau berjualan di mana?" kata ibu empat anak ini.
Hidayatullah mengatakan para pedagang untuk sementara ditempatkan di lahan kosong di RW 04 Kelurahan Senen dan Jalan Bungur Raya, Jakarta Pusat. Tapi itu pun tak akan dilakukan serta merta dengan penggusuran. Soalnya, perijinan untuk pemakaian lahan itu dari Pemerintah Kota Jakarta Pusat belum turun. "Pokoknya dibersihkan dulu biar lancar," katanya.
Mustafa Moses
Headlines
25 January 2007
Penggusuran Pedagang Kaki Lima Senen Besok Malam
Kalijodo Digusur
TEMPO Interaktif
Kamis, 25 Januari 2007
Sebanyak 462 rumah semi permanen di Jalan Kepanduan II, RW 05, Kalijodo, Penjaringan, Jakarta Utara, dibongkar mulai pukul 10.30 WIB hari ini. Ribuan orang dari 462 kepala keluarga kehilangan tempat tinggal mereka.
Rumah-rumah itu umumnya berbentuk bilik kayu berukuran empat meter persegi tanpa kamar mandi. Namun di sekitar perumahan itu ada mesjid dan sekolah.
Penertiban dan penggusuran dilakukan oleh sekitar 1200 aparat Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja dari Dinas Ketentraman dan Ketertiban Jakarta Utara, Jakarta Barat, dan Jakarta Pusat. Mereka dibantu 1500 personil polisi dari Polda Metro Jaya, Polres Jakarta Barat dan Jakarta Utara.
IBNU RUSYDI
24 January 2007
Rela and Malaysia's invisible war
www.aliran.com, Wednesday, 24 January 2007
The volunteer corps' crackdown on undocumented foreigners is not a war on terror; it is a war on defenceless migrants, observes Romany.
Like George W Bush’s ‘war on terror’ waged by the United States, an unseen, little-publicised ‘war on undocumented immigrants’ is being waged in Malaysia. This war, waged under cover of darkness, is hidden from public view and much information about it lands in the dead-news boxes of the editors of mainstream newspapers.
What exactly does the public know about these ongoing crackdowns on the migrant and refugee communities in our country? Who are these refugees and migrant workers? It is too easy to believe in our home grown xenophobic views of foreign people we actually know nothing about, given the kind of information the mainstream media dish out. Do we know or care about the reasons for their presence? We fail to ask the relevant and pertinent question – why are they here?
Home Affairs Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad exhibited this indifference to the little understood plight of these people, in his call to undocumented immigrants to “return home the way they came and not come back”; just before the Deepa-Raya festivities and prior to next year’s “major nationwide crackdown” (The Star, 14 Oct 2006).
The Minister’s said, “I am sure if they know how to enter the country they will definitely know the way out.” In making such a dismissive statement, the Minister did not seem to realise the apparent extent of his ignorance concerning the root causes of mass migration to this country, nor was he admitting his ignorance.
The Malaysian government criminalises undocumented immigrants without justification apart from legally categorising them as “illegal immigrants” because they lack legally recognised documentation to define their immigration status. According to the Minister, the Immigration authorities have a biometric self-identification system, which identifies “illegal immigrants” whose thumbprints are taken when they are arrested. It seems that they are not given any second chance even if they return again with legally valid documentation after being deported the first time. Is this just?
Malaysians often grumble about the long wait and the high fees paid - apart from having to meet other requirements like having guarantors or sponsors to ensure they meet particular financial requirements - before getting a visa to study or to stay longer than what a tourist visa allows in a foreign country. Obtaining work permits for employment in foreign countries is also plagued with much bureaucracy, long waits and costs incurred in the preparation of documents for official processing and approval of the host country’s government.
What if the tables were reversed? What if the economic situation in Malaysia was so bad that about 50-70 per cent of us were almost permanently unemployed and if there was political instability in the country and a majority of us lived below subsistence level - what would we do? Could we afford the high fees in sterling pounds, Australian dollars, US dollars or New Zealand dollars to pay foreign embassy immigration departments to get a visa to migrate? Could we give any guarantees of our financial security having no such sponsors or guarantors willing to put up the money to enable approval of our visa application? What if we were in a desperate situation without any means of livelihood and were forced to join the long immigration queue, waiting for months or years? Many of us would have no choice but to seek greener pastures but we would find no way out. We would be in the same boat as these “boat people”.
Not only do we remain unmoved by such difficulties experienced by others but we also seem to be encouraged by our limited and blinkered views of the world around us. We sneer at the political upheaval and turmoil in neighbouring Asean countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Burma but fail to understand why there is such political instability. Violent repression of people seeking basic human rights in these countries is of no concern to us. These victims, fleeing from political repression and poverty to our shores in the hope of finding temporary safety and perhaps a better life, are treated like criminals and subjected to further ill-treatment and violation of their basic human rights.
Hunted, hounded, harassed and detained
While most Malaysians are sleeping peacefully in the wee hours of the morning, it is a time of terror for the migrants. It does not matter if they are documented or undocumented migrants. These are the dark hours of fear and terror of raids conducted by Rela (the People’s Volunteer Corps). Reports of these night raids read like horror stories, about human beings brutalised and humiliated, robbed, dragged out of their beds, forced into trucks that take them away to certain detention centres, of which the general public know very little about. Is this something fabricated to sensationalise the predicament faced by this marginalized community? No, this is reality.
In their memorandum to Suhakam, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) provided details of raids carried out by Rela earlier this year.
At midnight on 11 February 2006, Rela carried out a raid on foreign workers in the Selayang open market. “According to eye-witnesses, those migrant workers caught were beaten up by the Rela personnel and treated like cattle.” Citing a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report, the memo continued: “...five died while fleeing the raid. Five bodies were found in a small lake near the open market in Selayang Baru.” Further, “Kuala Lumpur Hospital confirmed that four bodies had been taken from the lake in Selayang while another body...was said to be buried quickly.”
It is strange that after such a serious incident involving loss of life, the Immigration authorities and the government remained silent. The mainstream media were hushed, as if ignorant of what happened, except for theSun. A few days after the event, this daily published a small article on a report written by Ong Ju Lin, who had researched the case of one of the deceased foreign workers whose body had been dredged out of the lake. It was found that this particular individual was also a refugee. No inquiry by the government into the circumstances of this raid was made nor was any public statement on it forthcoming.
The siege on migrants by Rela has been going on. A day after the Selayang market raid, another raid took place in Shah Alam, the casualties of this raid were legitimate technicians and contract workers in a factory. They were “slapped, kicked and punched” and humiliated by Rela personnel without reason.
On 28 February, 61 Indian nationals, cheated and left in the lurch, penniless, by an unscrupulous employment agent, and reduced to sitting and waiting for assistance outside their embassy for a number of days, were also assaulted by Rela. Some of them were badly injured in the attack; but were not been given medical treatment. They were detained, unjustifiably.
Another raid on 13 May in Selayang market and Seri Kembangan at around 2.45 am, involving around 1,000 Rela personnel unaccompanied by police or immigration officers, was carried out in an “indecent and brutal manner”, according to Suaram.
In July, Rela conducted a raid on a refugee settlement in Putrajaya. The Achenese refugees were rudely awakened at 3.00 am and herded into lorries by Rela personnel. They were handcuffed with zip-ties and taken a distance to a partly constructed building in Sungai Merab. They were searched and nine of them detained because they did not have UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) cards on them. At 6.30 am, those not detained were sent back to the settlement to find Rela personnel carting away all their belongings after setting their houses on fire. They were left with nothing but “the clothes on their backs”. What was the reason for this inhumanity? None has been given by Rela or the government.
Raids have been more intensified this month (October) and will probably accelerate towards the end of the year into 2007. It was reported on 5 October that 2,000 residents in Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur were “ordered out of their homes” at 3.00 am by Rela (See accompanying story). Amongst them were Chin, Burmese and Karen migrants, who have been detained at the Lenggeng detention centre. They allegedly did not have UNHCR papers, which implies the possibility of their being refugees. There were also detainees of other nationalities: Nepalese, Bangladeshis and Indonesians.
Three more raids are known to have been carried out so far, two in Selangor and one in Penang. All invariably with violence, destruction of property and commission of theft, discovered after the raids by Rela. Pregnant women and children including babies are not spared in the raids and ill-treatment, lack of proper medical attention or degrading conditions in detention centres common features.
Rela, govt-backed vigilantes
On 5 August 2006, The Star reported that Rela was to undergo a “rebranding exercise”. Home Affairs Minister Mohd. Radzi Ahmad said this was necessary as “many people were still in the dark about the movement’s role.” At this ceremony, the Minister conferred the Selangor Menteri Besar and State Assembly Speaker with the rank of honorary colonel and 53 Selangor state assembly members with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of Rela.
This voluntary force was set up by the government on 11 January 1972 under the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1964. According to Home Affairs Ministry information, Rela’s establishment was based on the philosophy that the “responsibility of defending the country is in the hands of its own citizens with all citizens playing their respective roles.” Its mission: “To mobilise a voluntary force to assist the security agencies in the maintenance of peace and security in the country.” Its objective: “To help maintain security in the country and the well-being of its people.”
Given that Rela was established by virtue of the government’s emergency powers, the question arises as to why Rela is activated now. Is Malaysia in a state of emergency?
The growing militarisation of our country is increasingly noticeable. Malaysia seems to be turning into a police state. The last time Malaysia was deemed to be under an alleged state of emergency was in 1987 when Operation Lalang was launched by the then premier, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. During Operation Lalang, key NGO activists, members of religious groups and opposition party leaders were detained. None of these advocated armed insurrection in the country. Is Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi following in his predecessor’s footsteps by activating Rela, who are permitted to bear arms against unarmed migrants and civilians unable to defend themselves? What security threat as such does Malaysia face from economic migrants or refugees?
It is interesting to note that Khir Toyo, the Menteri Besar of Selangor, in his speech at the same event reported on 5 August said, “Rela would be able to function better if its members knew the law and the limits of their jurisdiction.” These words reveal the way in which Rela operates, disregarding the rule of law which should apply to every armed force and enforcement unit in the country as a deterrence against abuse of power and licence to use force, including the licence to kill.
Even more disturbing was Rela chief Khairi Mohd. Alwee’s statement in The Malay Mail on 19 October. Replying to complaints by residents of Taman Anggerik, Selangor that Rela members had broken their door locks and gates to gain entry to search their houses for undocumented immigrants at 5 am on 14 October, he said they had acted according to procedure.
He added, “Rela officers were authorised to enter and search premises without warrants and arrest and handcuff suspects.” Further, he confirmed, “ We are also authorised to carry firearms but we don’t flaunt it to avoid chaos.”
On 14 October, raids under Ops Tegas were carried out in other residential areas besides Taman Anggerik. These were Taman Sungai Sering, Bandar Alam Jaya, Taman Emas, Taman Orkid Phase 2, Taman Permai Jaya, Taman Pinggiran Delima and Bukit Raya.
The net of arbitrary search, arrest, detention and ensuing violence and invasion of privacy is becoming wider, more prevalent and indiscriminate.
Rela has become the government’s pet enforcement arm, being provided insurance cover, weapons, uniforms, status and a commission of RM80 per undocumented migrant (the bounty on the head of every alleged undocumented migrant they capture). In contrast, the government appears to be distancing itself from conventional enforcement units like the police by refusing to permit them a salary increase to cope with rising living costs, thus aggravating corruption within the force. Rela members apparently outnumber the police as well as the armed forces, numbering over 340,000 in contrast to less than 200,000 law enforcement and armed forces personnel put together, nationwide.
The peril within
Due to the shortage of labour within the country and the demand for low-wage labour, the government, in agreement with other Asean governments, maintains policies encouraging mobility of labour within Asean. Yet, Malaysia remains ill-prepared and ill-equipped to deal with the problems of mass migration. As usual, there has been no foresight, planning or structured approach to problems arising, and no realisation of the advantages of having readily available human resources to spur the economic development and progress of the country.
Instead, our government resorts to heavy-handed tactics and militarisation of the country. This is further worsened by the resulting human rights violations of migrants and citizens. The curtailment of freedom of information and expression, corruption, detention without trial, torture and other abuses in police lockups and immigration detention centres, the denial of prompt and proper medical treatment and more - the list is a long one.
Using Rela as a broom, with uncontrolled and unlimited powers, to sweep problems under the carpet in this inappropriate way only endangers Malaysia itself. Rela has also forsaken its objective to maintain security in the country and to ensure the well-being of its people. This is not a war on terror; it is a war on defenceless migrants and citizens of our country.
14 January 2007
Asean vows to protect rights of migrant workers from member-countries
Sun Star Manila
14 January 2007
LEADERS of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have adopted a proactive approach to safeguard the rights of migrant workers in Asean member-countries.
Sun.Star Network Online's 12th Asean Summit Watch
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said the declaration will simplify matters by defining the receiving states, the sending states and the commitment of Asean.
Basically, the obligation of the receiving states is to promote harmony and understanding between the host governments/states and the migrant workers, he said in a statement.
Conejos said Asean leaders were to sign the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Migrant Workers within the day Saturday.
He said the obligations of the receiving states include facilitating access to certain services and remedies through information, training and education, legal and judicial system, social welfare benefits, protection of employment, payment of wages and the provision of decent working and living condition of the migrant workers.
The host country should also provide assistance to any victims of discrimination, abuse, exploitation and violence.
If a national of an Asean member-state is detained or arrested, the host government should facilitate the exercise of consular functions to consular or diplomatic authorities of the states of origin.
Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo formally opened the three-day Asean summit Saturday morning, receiving the heads of state who arrived at the resort riding a golf cart that ferried them from their cottages to the Mactan Summit Hall.
The leaders were led into the summit hall to start their first retreat session to discuss the future direction of Asean.
Arroyo urged Asean member-countries to initiate concrete projects and programs that would flesh out the theme of the 12th Asean Summit: One Caring and Sharing Community.
We want to advance the sense of community in our shared interest to look after each other in terms of justice, economic development and common security, she said.
She said the regional grouping is also committed to expand its trade area to create one of the worlds greatest trading blocks.
Arroyo also urged the private sector to play a more proactive role in the implementation of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asian Growth Area (Bimp-Eaga) flagship programs and projects.
At the third Bimp-Eaga Leaders Summit at the posh Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa Friday, she also cited the importance of Bimp-Eagas development partners in harnessing the full potential of the growth area.
It is the private sector of the region that plays a crucial role in economic integration. And so, in this summit, we hope that we can indeed urge the private sector to play a more proactive role in the implementation of Bimp-Eaga flagship programs and projects, she said.
She cited the sub-regional groupings initiatives such as the halal poultry project, renewable energy, and environmental concerns.
Meanwhile, Timor Leste expressed its appreciation to the Asean for their role in helping bring peace and build stability in their country.
Timor Leste Foreign Minister Dr. Jose Luis Gutierres expressed his country;s sentiment during the Asean-Timor Leste Foreign Ministers Meeting chaired by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.
Gutierres expressed particular appreciation to the Philippines for sending members of the PNP to join the UN mission in Timor Leste.
He also expressed gratitude and admiration for PNP Director Roldofo Tor, who was named by the UN as the police commissioner for its new mission in East Timor.
Timor Leste is scheduled to accede to Aseans Treaty of Amity and Cooperation during the 12th Asean Summit and Related Summits in Cebu.
It is viewed as the first step towards full membership in the regional bloc that is moving towards full regional integration. (JMR/Sunnex)
12 January 2007
Rumiati, ?, TKI asal Blora Meninggal di Singapura ..
KBRI Singapura
12/1/2007
Penyerahan jenazah PLRT Rumiati kepada keluarganya di Blora, Jawa Tengah
Fungsi Protokol & Konsuler-Indonesian Embassy, 12 January 2007
(Fungsi Protokol & Konsuler) -Terkait meninggalnya seorang penata laksana rumah tangga (PLRT) Indonesia bernama Rumiati pada 5 Januari 2007, KBRI Singapura telah melaksanakan proses yang diperlukan dalam pengurusan pemulangan jenazah Almarhumah ke kampung halamannya.
KBRI Singapura juga menugaskan seorang pejabatnya untuk mendampingi jenazah Almarhumah untuk diserahkan kepada keluarganya dan memberikan penjelasan kepada keluarga mengenai kronologis kejadian meninggalnya PLRT Rumiati.
Pada 9 Januari 2007, jenazah PLRT Rumiati tiba di Bandar Udara Ahmad Yani, Semarang, dan disambut oleh wakil keluarga Almarhumah dan perwakilan Perusahaan Jasa Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (PJTKI), PT. Panca Ashma Tunggal.
Sekitar pukul 12.30 WIB, jenazah diangkut menuju kampung halamannya, Dukuh Turi, Desa Kutukan, Kecamatan Randublatung, Kabupaten Blora, Jawa Tengah dengan menggunakan mobil ambulan yang telah disediakan oleh PJTKI Panca Ashma Tunggal dan tiba di rumah duka sekitar pukul 16.45 WIB.
Jenazah diserah-terimakan kepada kepala keluarga Almarhumah, Sdr. Guntarso, yang merupakan ayah angkat dari Almarhumah, dengan disaksikan oleh Perwakilan PJTKI dan anggota keluarga lainnya.
Jenazah Almarhumah diberangkatkan menuju tempat pemakaman umum di Desa Kutukan untuk dikebumikan sore itu juga setelah disholatkan oleh keluarga dan pelayat lainnya.
Proses pemakaman berakhir pada pukul 17.45 WIB. Proses pemulangan dan pemakaman jenazah PLRT Rumiati yang meninggal di Singapura berlangsung dengan baik dan lancar.
Pihak keluarga dan masyarakat meng hargai upaya yang dilakukan KBRI Singapura, PJTKI, dan PJTKA yang telah mengurus bahkan mendampingi PLRT Rumiati sejak mengalami musibah hingga dikebumikan.
09 January 2007
Mahkamah Konstitusi Gelar Sidang Hak Uji Undang-Undang Penempatan TKI
TEMPO Interaktif
Selasa, 09 Januari 2007 | 15:08 WIB
Jakarta: Mahkamah Konstitusi, Selasa (9/1), menggelar sidang permohonan hak uji terhadap Undang-Undang Penempatan dan Perlindungan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia di Luar Negeri. Permohonan hak uji itu diajukan sejumlah calon Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI) dan lembaga swadaya masyarakat Indonesia Manpower Watch.
Indonesia Manpower Watch selaku pemohon meminta Mahkamah Konstitusi mengoreksi pasal 35 huruf a undang-undang itu karena dinilai bertentangan dengan Pasal 27 (2) dan Pasal 28 ayat (2) Undang-Undang Dasar 1945.
”Pembatasan umur yang diatur dalam Undang-Undang Penempatan dan Perlindungan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia di Luar Negeri mengakibatkan stagnasi dan diskriminasi dalam penempatan dan perlindungan TKI," kata kuasa hukum Indonesia Manpower Watch, Soekitjo, dalam sidang di Mahkamah Konstitusi, Selasa (9/1).
Pasal 35 huruf a Undang-Undang Penempatan dan Perlindungan Tenaga Kerja Indonesia di Luar Negeri menyatakan bahwa "berusia sekurang-kurangnya 18 tahun kecuali bagi calon TKI yang akan dipekerjakan pada pengguna perseorangan sekurang-kurangnya berusia 21 tahun". Menurut Soekitjo, pasal itu bertentangan dengan Pasal 27 (2) yang menyatakan bahwa tiap-tiap warga negara berhak atas pekerjaan dan penghidupan yang layak bagi kemanusiaan". Selain itu Pasal 28 ayat (2) UUD 1945 yang berbunyi "setiap orang berhak untuk bekerja serta mendapat imbalan dan perlakukan yang adil dan layak dalam hubungan kerja".
”Undang-Undang itu diskriminatif terhadap usia produktif yaitu 18 sampai 20 tahun. Juga tidak adil dan mengabaikan kenyataan bahwa ada tenaga kerja produktif berusia 18 tahun ke atas,” ujarnya.
Sedangkan kuasa hukum calon TKI, Sangap Sidauruk, mengatakan bahwa empat orang calon TKI yang diwakilinya yakni Esti Suryani (20), Martina Septi Mayasari (19), Deniyati (20), dan Sumiyati (20) ditolak bekerja di luar negeri karena alasan belum cukup umur. "Ini melanggar hak bekerja dan mempertahankan kehidupan seperti yang tercantum dalam konstitusi," ujar Sangap.
Selain itu, kata dia, faktanya pelecehan seksual yang dialami TKI terjadi pada mereka yang berusia lebih dari 21 tahun dan TKI yang bekerja pada perseorangan tidak mutlak berjenis kelamin perempuan dan mengerjakan pekerjaan rumah tangga.
Sidang permohonan hak uji itu diawali dengan sidang pemeriksaan oleh hakim panel Mahkamah Konstitusi yang dipimpin HM. Laica Marzuki. Hakim Laica meminta para pemohon agar lebih cermat dalam menyusun permohonannya. Sebab, kata dia, Mahkamah sebelumnya pernah memeriksa permohonan hak uji terhadap undang-undang yang sama pada 28 Maret 2006. "Apa yang berbeda dari permohonan ini dengan yang sebelumnya?" ujarnya.
Sedangkan hakim anggota Maruarar Siahaan dan Soedarsono menasehati pemohon agar melengkapi permohonannya dengan bukti dan data yang akurat serta menjelaskan kaitan permohonan ini dengan Undang-Undang Dasar 1945. Walhasil pada akhir persidangan, majelis hakim konstitusi memberikan waktu selama 14 hari kepada pemohon untuk memperbaiki permohonannya.
Rini Kustiani
08 January 2007
Ratusan PKL di Solo Turun Jalan Tolak Penggusuran
TEMPO Interaktif
Senin, 08 Januari 2007
Sekitar 500 Pedagang Kaki Lima (PKL) di Kota Solo, Senin (8/1), turun ke jalan memprotes penggusuran PKL yang gencar dilakukan Pemkot setempat. Mereka menilai Pemkot berbuat semena-mena karena menghilangkan mata pencaharian mereka.
Ratusan PKL tersebut long march dari Taman Sriwedari menuju Bunderan Gladag di kawasan Pasar Kliwon. Di sepanjang jalan mereka berganti melakukan orasi menyuarakan tuntutan mereka.
Sesampai di Bunderan Gladah para PKL bergantian melakukan orasi. Mereka juga meneruskan aksinya di Balaikota Solo dengan dikawal puluhan petugas dari Poltabes Solo.
Sejumlah poster dan spanduk dibawa para pengunjuk rasa diantaranya berbunyi 'Stop penggusuran PKL', 'Kami Bukan Penyakit', 'PKL dan keluarganya juga butuh makan' dan sebagainya. Aksi para PKL ini juga diikuti anggota keluarga mereka. Tampak ibu-ibu dan anak-anak juga turun ke jalan mengikuti aksi.
"Pemerintah jangan hanya berorientasi menertibkan jalanan saja tapi juga harus menyelami bagaimana kebutuhan hidup kami dan keluarga. Harus ada solusi jangan asal menggusur," ungkap Joko Suryadi, Koordinator Aksi.
Pengunjuk rasa yang tergabung dalam Forum Komunikasi (Forkom) PKL Solo itu menyebut, penggusuran PKL dari jalan-jalan utama di Kota Solo hanyalah proyek untuk orang-orang berduit. "Apakah kota budaya hanya dilihat dari ketertiban di pinggir jalan. Kota Solo ini akhirnya hanya boleh ditempati oleh orang-orang berduit saja," teriak salah seorang pendemo dalam orasinya.
Dalam pernyataan sikapnya, mereka menyampaikan sejumlah tuntutan kepada Pemkot Solo diantaranya stop penggusuran PKL, membuka lapangan kerja seluas-luasnya agar masyarakat miskin tidak jadi PKL, mengikutsertakan paguyuban PKL untuk menata kota dan sejumlah tuntutan lainnya.
Seperti diketahui, akhir-akhir ini Pemkot Solo gencar melakukan penertiban terhadap para PKL yang berjualan di sepanjang jalan-jalan utama di kota tersebut. Setelah berhasil memindahkan PKL di kawasan Monumen Banjarsari, Pemkot Solo juga melarang PKL di Jalan Urip Sumoharjo, Jalan jenderal Sudirman dan Jalan Adi Sucipto dan kini giliran Jalan Slamet Sriyadi.
Dalam beberapa hari terakhir ini, Satpol PP 'menduduki' Jalan Urip Sumoharjo untuk melarang PKL berdagang di kawasan itu. Selain itu, Satpol PP juga melarang PKL berjualan di Jalan Slamet Riyadi. Bukan hanya PKL yang terkena penertiban melainkan juga pengemis, gelandangan dan pengamen.
Di Balaikota, para PKL diterima Kepala Satpol PP Subagyo dan Kepala Pengelolaan PKL Bambang Santoso. Keduanya menyatakan, apa yang dilakukan Pemkot bukan bentuk penggusuran karena Pemkot juga memberikan alternatif tempat yakni pemusatan PKL di Manahan. ''Kami sudah membuatkan sentra PKL yakni di shelter Manahan,'' kata Bambang.
Anas Syahirul
07 January 2007
Ratusan TKI Dipaksa Pulang dari Malaysia
01/07/2007
Liputan6.com, Tanjungpinang: Sebanyak 560 tenaga kerja Indonesia dipulangkan secara paksa oleh pemerintah Malaysia, belum lama ini. Para TKI bermasalah itu dipulangkan melalui Pelabuhan Sri Bintan Pura, Tanjungpinang, Kepulauan Riau. Sebagian besar TKI berasal dari Jawa Timur dan Nusatenggara Barat. Sebelum dideportasi, mereka sempat menjalani hukuman kurungan di beberapa penjara, antara lain di Semenyih dan Negeri Sembilan.
Para TKI mengungkapkan, selama di Malaysia mereka mendapat perlakuan buruk oleh majikan, antara lain dipukul dan ada pula yang nyaris dijadikan pelacur oleh agennya. Namun, mereka tidak berani melapor ke perwakilan pemerintah Indonesia karena masuk ke Malaysia secara gelap.
Sepanjang Juni tahun ini, sekitar 2.500 TKI dipulangkan paksa oleh Malaysia karena berbagai sebab, terutama pelanggaran keimigrasian. Data lain juga menyebutkan, sekitar 1.200 pembantu rumah tangga lari tiap bulannya di negeri jiran tersebut [baca: Derita TKI Hampir Tiada Henti].(ADO/Humala Nasution)
02 January 2007
210 Gubug Liar Di Bantaran Rel Dibongkar
TEMPO Interaktif, 02 Jan 2007
Jakarta: 210 Gubug Liar Di bantaran Rel Dibongkar Jatinegara sampai Pondok Gede Jakarta Timur telah dibongkar oleh pemiliknya setelah mereka menerima surat dari PT Kerata Api Indonesia. Sebelumnya PT KAI melayangkan surat tersebut kepada warga di bantaran rel.
"Keberadaan gubuk itu mengancam keselamatan perjalanan kereta," kata Akhmad Sujadi, juru bicara PT KAI Daerah Operasional I DKI Jakarta kepada Tempo tadi siang. Menurut dia, keberadaan gubug-gubug liar di bantaran warga membuat tanah di sekitar rel mengeras sehingga rel tidak bisa memantul ke tanah.
"Banyak rel yang patah karena sering diinjak-injak," kata Akhmad. Dia mencontohkan banyak warga yang membuat pasar di sekitar bantaran rel, seperti di Stasiun Pasar Gaplok, Cempaka Putih Jakarta Pusat. Bantalan rel juga lapuk, karena sering dijadikan tempat sampah oleh warga sekitar.
Mustafa Moses