W. Java to resettle 3,000 families

BANDUNG: West Java hopes to resettle more than 3,000 families, including former transmigrants who have been displaced by recent conflicts, during the course of the year.

Sukarto Karnen, head of the West Java Manpower and Transmigration Agency, said on Thursday that the administration had allocated about Rp 37 billion (US$3.36 million) for the year to meet the 3,000 target figure set by the central government.

So far, West Java had resettled some 306 families in Riau province since January. Sukarto did not say whether the target could be met.

He said priority for resettlement would be given to some 3,200 West Javanese families who had been forced to flee from their transmigration sites because of conflicts in Aceh, West Kalimantan, Irian Jaya and Maluku over the last two years.

"They have not got permanent jobs since they returned," Sukarto said.

The transmigrants would be resettled in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, but some would also be send to local transmigration sites in Tasikmalaya, Garut, Bogor, Cianjur and Sukabumi, Sukarto said. (25/04)