Squatters to be moved from park

PALU, Central Sulawesi: At least 200 families of squatters will this year be relocated from the Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL) in the Dongi-Dongi area, Central Sulawesi.

Central Sulawesi manpower and transmigration office head Taufik Tiangso said on Thursday the squatters would be moved to Sabang and Lende areas on the west coast of the province.

The squatters are among at least 1,030 families from four villages of Kamarora A, Kamarora B, Kadidia and Rahmat in Palolo subdistrict, Donggala regency, who have been illegally occupying the Dongi-Dongi area, a vital water catchment, since July 2001.

The squatters claim that they occupied the area because they had difficulty finding farming land in Palolo, which according to them was mostly controlled by migrants and local officials.

The occupants then occupied around 4,000 hectares of forest areas inside the park, where they planted cacao and other crops. -- JP