Timor land ‘giveaway’ under fire
25/6/08
East Timor’s Government is under fire over an agreement to turn more than a sixth of the country’s arable land over to a $US100 million ($A105 million) foreign-funded ethanol project. The Fretilin opposition has branded as a “land giveaway” a memorandum of understanding between the Agriculture Minister and GTLeste Biotech for a 100,000-hectare sugar plantation and ethanol plant. The agreement with the little-known Indonesian company guarantees at least $US100 million in investment in return for granting GTLeste a 50-year lease over “unproductive land” with an option for 50 years more. The Government is touting the move as a major potential source of foreign cash that could generate more than 2000 jobs. But opposition agriculture spokesman Estanislau da Silva said the plan was made with little public consultation and could threaten food production in the impoverished and overwhelmingly agrarian country.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/world/timor-land-giveaway-under-fire-20080624-2w5r.html
Tags: Environment, Indonesia, Timor, Trade