Money needed for parkland

JAMBI, Jambi: The administration in Kerinci, 420 kilometers from here, has asked the international community and the World Bank to help it pay compensation to those people inhabiting land in the Kerinci Seblat National Park who are willing to relocate.

"Kerinci residents are willing to hand over 51 percent of their 4,200 square kilometers of land for the national park," according to district head Fauzi Si'in.

However, he said they were only willing to do so if the administration provided funds to help develop economic activities in the area.

Fauzi was quoted by Antara as saying the local residents only used 2,000 square kilometers of the land to live on. About 80 percent of the 300,000 local inhabitants depend on agriculture and plantations for their livelihood.

Residents sometimes cleared land which is part of the national park, which covers areas in four adjacent provinces, Fauzi said.

The 1,484,650-hectare national park comprises 422,190 hectares in Kerinci in Jambi; 353,780 hectares in West Sumatra; 310,910 hectares in Bengkulu; and 28,120 hectares in South Sumatra.