A long-term evaluation of families affected by the Bili-Bili Dam development resettlement project in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

A series of surveys and interviews were conducted with families relocated from the site of the Bili-Bili Dam project in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, to remote transmigration areas in the same province. At the time of the survey, all families had received their full amount of cash compensation for relocation. In addition, they had been given an opportunity to join the Transmigration Programme (TP) to receive land and houses for free; however, many suffered from hardships and their strong attachment to their homeland forced them to return. The results of this survey show that families who joined the TP did in fact use their compensation money to purchase small pieces of land and homes close to their original village. Those who were successful and saved money while living in TP areas, as well as those who sold their land in the TP areas, mostly returned to the dam vicinity and were able to purchase land and homes in that area. It is therefore concluded that this resettlement scheme was successful. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.