560 families to be resettled

560 families to be resettled

DILI, East Timor: Five hundred and sixty families from local
and other islands will be settled in East Timor in three
transmigration sites, the local transmigration office's chief
said here yesterday.

L. Madyo told Antara that families were being selected with
first placements scheduled for next month.

Madyo said 200 families would be resettled in Bonuk, 300
families in Lore and 60 families in Oebaba. The infrastructure,
basic fixtures and homes for them had been built last year, he
said.

His office prioritized continued cooperation with the
provincial administration, he said. Families should be resettled
on a monthly basis because problems often arose which affected
the timing of placements.

The provincial administration offered families training and
development while the Ministry of Transmigration's local office
provided land and tools for the young farmers in the "crash
program" to reduce unemployment, Madyo said.

He said that 200 families had been resettled in Betano
(Manufahi), 200 families in Faularan (Liquisa) and 100 families
in Raimean (Kovalima).

The ministry's local office says that 6,484 families, or
28,950 resettlers, are now living in East Timor. Of those, 2,300
families are being trained for farming by the provincial
administration and the remaining 4,148 families are under the
ministry's supervision.

Another 300 families would be resettled between now and 1998,
with 100 families being placed in each of the camps in Manatuto,
Baucau and Kovalima regencies, he said. (01)