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Monday September 8, 04:50 PM

Homes To Be Built For E Timor Refugees Using Japanese Aid

KUPANG, E Nusa Tenggara, Sept 8 Asia Pulse - The East Nusa Tenggara resettlement and regional infrastructure office will build 300 homes for former East Timorese refugees before this year's rainy season. The refugess are now still living in makeshift tents in the western part of Timor in East Nusa Tenggara.

The building of the 300 houses will cost the equivalent of Rp8 billion in Japanese aid, Head of the East Nusa Tenggara resettlement and regional infrastructure office Piet Djami Rebo said at the local legislative assembly building here on Friday.

He said the resettlement project must be realized soon, adding that the Rp8 billion will not only cover the cost of building the houses, but other infrastructure as well including places for bathing, washing and latrines, in addition to water reservoirs and roads.

Djami Rebo said the Japanese government has allocated Rp18 billion in aid for resettlement and infrastrucuture out of a total of Rp53.213 billion in Japanese government assistance for the settlement of problems of former East Timorese refugees in East Nusa Tenggara.

He added that of the allocated funds his side has spent Rp7 billion on the building of 550 homes for Indonesian soldiers who had served in East Timor, resettlement of refugees, clear water supply to refugee camps and the rehabilitation of public facilities which had been used by refugees.

In the meantime, he expressed disappointment that the hundreds of homes built for the former East Timorese refugees who chose to remain in Indonesia were still vacant.

He suspected that the former refugees' reluctance to leave their emergency camps was because many Indonesian soldiers and police personnel who had served in East Timor were still staying there.

"But I believe that before the rainy season the 300 houses which will be built in Kupang and Belu regencies would be completed," he said.

(ANTARA)

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