Islanders refuse to be resettled

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi: Hundreds of inhabitants of Laelae Island staged a demonstration at the provincial council compound to protest against the Ujungpandang mayoralty's plan to move them off the island and develop it into a tourist area.

The demonstrators, including children, youths and the elderly, demanded that Mayor Malik B. Masry end his plan to move them to another island and cancel the planned development of the island for tourism.

"We will never leave the island. We were born there and we will die there," Harris Nambung, a demonstrator, said.

Syafrie Nur, a councilor who received the demonstrators, vowed to air their demands for discussion at the council's next meeting with the mayor.

"We will fight on behalf of the islanders," he said.

ALatieF Corporation, owned by former minister of tourism, art and culture Abdul Latief, has secured a permit from the local administration to develop a maritime tourist resort on the island. (30)