TLGov: Government delivers 34 houses in the Dili district

Police deployed to implement unjust executive evictions in Dili

Government delivers 34 houses in the Díli district Thu. January 06, 18:05h The Ministry of Social Solidarity (MSS), delivered 34 social houses, in the Díli district, on the 30th of December of 2010 - The construction project of these houses, destined for people in need, began in 2009, where around 150 social housings in the whole country have been constructed up to the end of 2010,. Houses have already been delivered to beneficiaries in the Covalima, Ainaro, Manufahi, Ermera, Maliana, Liquiça, Baucau, Viqueque and Lospalos districts. Some of the houses initially projected are still to be attributed, because the construction companies didn’t deliver them to the Government.

In 2011, the Government will continue with this social protection program.

The Vera Cruz sub-district Administrator, Jose Filipe Smith, said that “these houses, donated by the Government, should be kept in good state so that, in the future, they may provide a well-being to all the members of the beneficiary families”.

Of these 34 houses attributed in the Díli district, eight were delivered in the Vera-Cruz sub-district, eight in the Metinaro sub-district and 18 in the Atauro sub-district. The total value of the construction was US$ 136.000, each house having cost around $US 4.000.

http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=4507&lang=en&n=1


ETLJB Editorial Note : Meanwhile, the Government is deploying the police force to evict occupants of government lands in Dili without appropriate judicial process or effective judicial review of these executive evictions.

These evictions are based on provisions of Law No 1 of 2003 on the Juridical Regime Governing Immovable Property, the drafting of which was supported by USAID and participated in by ARD Inc. See also An Overview of Law No 1 of 2003. .

It is a fundamentally flawed law more reminiscent of an executive dictatorship than a democracy. It is this law, following precedents set by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor of executive evictions without judicial review. See for example, Executive Order No 7 of 2002 On the Vacation of certain properties located in Farol, Dili, East Timor  

For more research on land issues in East Timor see also East Timor Law Journal Legal Research Land Law and Policy

Timor Leste Land Law and Policy Information Centre