he government has begun building hundreds of houses in Central Jakarta for residents of a shantytown in Senen, whose informal railside settlement was visited by President Prabowo Subianto late last month, when he pledged to provide them with decent housing.
Public Housing and Settlements Minister Maruarar “Ara” Sirait said earlier this week, after meeting Prabowo at the State Palace, that a total of 324 housing units were under construction on a 1.6-hectare plot owned by state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura in Kramat subdistrict, Central Jakarta.
The new housing site is located near the former Senen settlement, where makeshift homes had for decades lined the tracks behind Gaplok Market, around 4 kilometers southeast of the Presidential Palace complex.
Despite earlier plans to build two low-cost apartment towers (rusun) in the area, the government eventually scrapped the proposal and instead deployed around 470 workers to complete the houses by mid-June.
Each unit will have a floor space of 20.2 square meters and include two beds, a cupboard and a fan, according to state-owned construction firm PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA). The complex will also feature shared kitchens, a playground and a mosque.
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Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning.
Ara, whose ministry is also tasked with building 3 million homes annually for middle- to low-income communities nationwide, said the government would repurpose state-owned land for housing, particularly in strategic urban areas, to expand access to proper homes.