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Former East Timorese settlers run amok over BLT

Dozens of former East Timorese living in Kupang regency, East Nusa Tenggara, wreaked havoc and hit officials when finding out they were not eligible to receive the 2009 direct cash aid (BLT)

Yemris Fointuna (The Jakarta Post)
Kupang
Mon, May 18, 2009

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Former East Timorese settlers run amok over BLT

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ozens of former East Timorese living in Kupang regency, East Nusa Tenggara, wreaked havoc and hit officials when finding out they were not eligible to receive the 2009 direct cash aid (BLT).

The settlers attacked Oebelo village chief Apeles Bulang and the head of village administration at the Central Kupang district office, Jeremias Mone, on Friday.

At least 300 former East Timorese families residing in a settlement in Oebelo village were not listed as eligible to receive aid.

Apeles said Sunday almost half of the settler households were not registered although the village was not to be blamed.

He said BLT registrations were done at the Central Statistics Agency's (BPS) local office.

"This year, there are only 159 families on the *BLT* list, compared to 320 families last year," Apeles said.

Police managed to arrest one of the former East Timorese, identified as Daniel Do Santos.

Daniel and other settlers stormed the village office to ask whether they were eligible to receive the BLT.

The settlers believed they had been registered as low-income residents, therefore were eligible to receive the cash aid.

"Our names were registered, so why they are not on the list?" Daniel asked.

Kupang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Endang Syafruding said the police would facilitate talks between both parties over the issue.

At least 100,000 former East Timorese are still living in camps scattered over the province, also known as West Timor.

The settlers are former pro-integration refugees who opted to remain on Indonesian soil after the majority of the population in the then East Timor province decided at the 1999 referendum to secede from Indonesia.

Most of the settlers also said they were no longer registered to receive rice handouts for low-income earners (raskin).

"Not only are we no longer eligible to get raskin, now we are also not eligible to get the BLT," said Mario Freitas, one of the settlers.

"We feel like we are being treated like second class citizens in our own country."

This year, East Nusa Tenggara received 103,975 tons of rice to be distributed to 577,606 households across the province.

"The figure means the number of households in East Nusa Tenggara receiving the handouts will decrease by 45,467," head of the East Nusa Tenggara office of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), S. Ariyanto, said.

"There will be 5,068 less tons of rice distributed."

Meanwhile, East Nusa Tenggara Governor Frans Leburaya expected the number of BLT and raskin recipients to keep decreasing every year.

"Some people are protesting because they are no longer registered to receive the BLT and raskin," he said.

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