Dili, 13 March 2026 (Média Democracia) – Secretariat of the Council of Land and Property (SKSI) holds national dialogue between government and civil society regarding land policy in Timor Leste.
According to Vice Prime Minister Mariano Assanami Sabino, defending the people is endless, if you want to talk about this matter, coordination and combination can be done, but looking at this it’s very difficult, how can coordination be done.
“Defending the people is endless, if you want to talk about this matter, we can do coordination and combination, but looking at this it’s very difficult, how can coordination be done, the right to land is a constitutional right, everyone has the right to a house and land, which is guaranteed by the constitution, it also says that even if a person is a criminal, their home is a place that provides security for the owner, so it can’t be entered, except if the owner invites, because the house is a place that provides security for its owner.” said Vice Prime Minister Mariano Assanami Sabino.
Vice Prime Minister informs that this is a process that needs to be looked at carefully, another thing that needs to be looked at is that the land needs to be strong because we have land that is suitable for production, but many abandoned lands force us to depend on food from other countries. In the past, our ancestors didn’t depend on food from abroad, but nowadays, we depend a lot on food from other countries.
Vice Prime Minister further stated that legally, it’s complicated to regulate because many political parties avoid discussing land issues because it’s a complex problem, during the Portuguese time, we hd large lands offered to some people, making them big estate owners, and this has been happening in many places. Since the beginning, CNRT has thought that we need to regulate this, and now we need a space to strengthen our vision for the state and nation, after entering multi-party system, not everything should be dragged into party politics.
Meanwhile, in this national dialogue, the participants include the Vice Prime Minister, Director of Hak, PDHJ, Land and Property, and civil society.
Reporting : Intern Marito
Photo : Intern Marito