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JAKARTA. The planned demolition of the Kalijodo red-light district in North Jakarta came to fruition on Monday morning , despite six families having insisted on staying in the area.
The Jakarta administration, backed by thousands officers from Jakarta Police and Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) military personnel, began to demolish the infamous prostitution area on Monday morning with excavators and other heavy equipment.
The city first tore down Intan Cafe, owned by prominent local figure Abdul Azis aka Daeng Azis, Kompas.com reported.
Azis, who allegedly controlled most of the operations in Kalijodo, has recently been named as a suspect in both human trafficking and electricity theft cases by the Jakarta Police.
North Jakarta Mayor Rustam Effendi, who lead the closure, said that Intan Cafe had been the first to be torn down as its owner had not demolished the building themselves following a third warning issued by the city.
The city administration had given local residents 11 days to tear down their own building and or buildings and leave Kalijodo.
On Monday, at least six families continued to insist on staying in Kalijodo amid the demolition.
Rustam told Antara News Agency that the city would take a persuasive approach to convince the families to leave.
Hundreds of families have been relocated from Kalijodo to city-owned low-cost apartments (Rusunawa) in Marund, North Jakarta and Pulogebang in East Jakarta.
The city administration aims to transform the Kalijodo area into a green space area.
