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AMBI: Since being resettled in Mingkung Java village in Muarojambi regency, 178 families have not yet received the two-hectares of land promised to each of them by the government.

The migrants, who moved from Java to the village in 1995, took part in an independently-initiated transmigration program.

Conducted in two phases, the program involved 693 families, of which 515 have received the land from Muarojambi regency administration. The rest had to be satisfied with the provided housing and ended up earning their livelihood as itinerant workers.

“We had received the houses but we received land like the others,” said one migrant, Slamet.

Muarojambi Legislative Council member, M. Antariksa, said the program was old and had been conveyed to the administration.

“I’m tired of trying to raise this issue. I have brought up the subject so many times I have earned the nickname ‘council member 178’,” he said.

He said it was about time the regency did something for the neglected families. — JP