Indonesia’s President Jokowi has launched the ambitious “100-0-100 Program” with a laudable goal of 100 per cent access to potable water, 0 slums, and 100 per cent access to sanitation for urban inhabitants by 2019. The Cities Without Slums Program (KOTAKU) is a national platform funded by various sources, including central and local governments, the private sector, and various financial institutions. The KOTAKU program has been budgeted as a high priority program in the draft 2017 National Budget (Draft Budget) and in the National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) from 2015 to 2019.

Unfortunately, however, “slum”-related projects in Indonesia have often been plagued with a history of violence, impoverishment and forced resettlement and, for this reason, the official designation of an area as a “slum” may be seen by residents as a preliminary step prior to the violent forced eviction of the inhabitants of the area