April 2, 2026
JAKARTA – Inhabitants of informal railside settlements in Senen, Central Jakarta, are now living in limbo after authorities ordered them to clear their makeshift homes on March 20, just one day after President Prabowo Subianto made an impromptu visit and promised them decent housing elsewhere.
Following her eviction, Nurhasanah, 23, a busker who grew up in the densely populated area, was left without the small tent that had provided shelter, looking after her 4-month-old baby along the railway tracks.
“Eviction threats are nothing new to us,” she said. “But the latest eviction hurts more because the President just visited us and promised us Rusun [low-cost apartments]”.
On Friday morning, the Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and state railway company KAI deployed heavy machinery to clear dozens of makeshift homes, according to several residents who witnessed the demolition.
But when The Jakarta Post visited the area on Sunday, many people had rebuilt their homes and food stalls dotted the tracks behind nearby Gaplok Market, just to the east of the Gatot Soebroto Central Army Hospital and around 4 kilometers southeast of the Presidential Palace Complex.
Some residents who had returned said they were undeterred by the eviction order because finding a new place to live was virtually impossible.
“Renting a house or a room is not that easy, especially for a busker like me,” said Nurhasanah.
“I have been evicted before for late payments,” she added.
On meeting Prabowo during his surprise visit last Thursday, residents spoke to the President about the challenges they faced as part of the urban poor.
Some people said on Sunday that the government had handed each household cash assistance of Rp 2 million (US$118).
Local resident Marwanto, 42, who drives bajaj (public three-wheeled vehicle) for his livelihood, said the President’s visit and the cash aid had given the community new hope of the state’s presence, though he worried over the vagueness of the promised housing.
“We still face constant eviction threats,” he said.
Street food vendor Sumiyati shared a similar concern.
“Everything still feels uncertain, but I hope we can soon move into Rusun near areas where we usually work,” he said.
Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said the President had ordered the ministries of public housing and public works as well as KAI to start developing low-cost subsidized apartments in the area.
Referring to the forced eviction on Friday, KAI president director Bobby Rasyidin said the move was part of the company’s efforts to reclaim buffer zones along the local railway tracks and to record the number of people living in the informal settlements.
On Sunday, housing minister Maruarar “Ara” Sirait reportedly visited Jl. Kramat Raya in Senen, where a 1.6-hectare plot belonging to state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura is slated for building the new Rusun.
“The public housing project is definitely happening soon. The city administration is going to handle the permit process,” Ara said in a statement on Monday, indicating a groundbreaking in May.
In response to the residents’ current uncertain living situation, the Jakarta administration has started registering them for temporary relocation to city-owned Rusun in Nagrak and Rorotan in North Jakarta and in Penggilingan in East Jakarta, where they will live until the new housing blocks were finished.
According to the governor’s special aide Chico Hakim, the city administration has recorded 118 households residing in Senen’s informal railside settlements.