Quake victims asked to resettle

Quake victims asked to resettle

AMBON, Maluku: The provincial administration calls on residents of Obi Island whose houses were damaged in an earthquake in October and last month to resettle to other areas under the state-sponsored transmigration program.

"The government is ready to resettle the quake victims if they want," Vice governor R.S. Soeranto said yesterday.

"But if islanders refuse the government's offer, they should build tremor-proof houses because the island is very prone to earthquake," he said.

He said around 500 houses built in a transmigration settlement area in Toliwang, Halmahera, and hundreds of hectares of land would be earmarked for the quake victims if they were willing to join the transmigration program.

Around 670 houses, mosques, churches and school buildings were badly damaged when a strong earthquake jolted the island in October and last month.

No human casualties were reported in the natural disaster, Antara reported yesterday. (rms)