Squatters to be moved from park

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