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The national human rights body on Monday criticized the Tangerang administration for failing to attend negotiations on the relocation of residents from an impoverished community and then falsely claiming that an agreement had been reached in the case.

The administration last year attempted to evict 1,007 people from the Cina Benteng community in Neglasari subdistrict in a bid to reclaim land along the Cisadane riverbank, but faced stiff opposition, resulting in violent clashes between residents and Public Order Agency officers, or Satpol PP.

In December, the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) hosted a mediation event involving the residents, Tangerang administration officials, Tangerang city councilors, provincial officials and officials from the Public Works Ministry, the Public Housing Ministry and the House of Representatives.

However, the Tangerang administration did not send anyone to Monday’s follow-up meeting.

Ridha Saleh, a Komnas HAM member, said this absence was surprising given that his office had notified the administration about the meeting.

“The first meeting went well, so it’s regrettable that no Tangerang officials turned up on Monday,” he said.

He added that no agreement had been reached at the first meeting, despite claims to the contrary by the administration.

Maryoris Namaga, a spokesman for the administration, said the December meeting had resulted in the Cina Benteng community agreeing to move to subsidized apartments to be built by the Public Housing Ministry.

“So now we’re just waiting for the central government to build the apartments,” he said.

Gatot Purwanto, a Tangerang city councilor who attended Monday’s meeting, promised to facilitate a future meeting between the city administration and the Neglasari residents.

“We want what is the best for the residents,” he said.

Tommy Albert Tobing, a lawyer with the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation, said he was baffled by the Tangerang administration’s claim that a deal had been reached with the residents.

“There have been no deals made yet,” he said.

“The idea of relocating the residents to subsidized apartments was cited by the Public Works Ministry as an example of a solution used in a similar case in Jakarta.

“Either the administration spokesman is a genuine fool, or he’s just pretending to be one,” Tommy added.

Edy Lim, a Cina Benteng community elder, said the only issue agreed on at the first meeting was that there should be no more intimidation of the residents or eviction attempts.

“But even this didn’t last because a couple of days later, a truckload of officers showed up and asked each of us when we planned to move,” he said.

“We will continue to reject any attempts to evict us.”

Pitoyo Subandrio, head of the Public Works Ministry’s Ciliwung-Cisadane Agency, said his office could do nothing in the case until the Tangerang administration and the residents came to an agreement.

“We’ve already spent [millions] on rehabilitating the Cisadane River in Banten and Tangerang, so if the [Neglasari residents] refuse to move, we’ll spend the money elsewhere,” he said.