In rural Timor-Leste, who owns the land and who uses the land are often two very different things.
Pedro da Costa Xavier is a 24-year-old subsistence farmer from Liquica District. He lives about an hour away from Dili, the capital, in a thatched hut near the sea. He grows tobacco next to his house - he says vegetables do not grow in the thin, salty soil.
His vegetable garden is about an hour's walk south in the mountains. That land is not his per se, but is shared between two other families and his own - some 200 people, in all - and he has no idea how big the plot is.
"We only mark the boundaries of the land our house is on," said Xavier. "We use trees and rocks to mark the property we farm in the hills, but it's never been measured."
The land is not divided evenly but used by approved clan members as needed. Xavier explained that if the government were to issue a title to a single member, it would go to the oldest man in the three clans. So far it is not even clear exactly who would be eligible - that would likely depend on the clan itself.
Under Portuguese rule, titles were issued to families who worked closely with the Portuguese. This method ensured local cooperation and destabilised local authority, in turn strengthening colonial authority. Indonesia had its own system of land titlement, unlike both the Portuguese and traditional systems. But both countries failed to register the majority of land owners and up until 1999 only about 15,000 titles had been issued by either government.
Since independence in May 2002, no titles have been issued and none recognised as no land law under the new government yet exists.
 Photo: Jesse Wright/IRIN  |
| Pedro da Costa Xavier's tobacco crop dries in the midday sun. He grows vegetables and other crops in more fertile soil some distance from his house on land his family shares with other clan members |
The project will be run with the Ministry of Justice and the National Directorate for Land and Property. The hope is that by clarifying land boundaries and ownerships, there will be fewer disputes and legal land sales can take place, leading to a more stable economic and social climate, as well as increased development.
Breanna Ridsdel, manager for public information for the programme, said a law had been proposed whereby an unlimited number of people could be acknowledged as owners - basically legalising the traditional framework - but this is still only a proposal.
Ultimately, complex details such as inheritance rights would need to be worked out and final approval would need to come from the Ministry of Justice and later, Parliament.
Power questions
Because Timor is an agrarian society, any disruption of traditional holdings could have severe consequences for food production, and this has some aid organisations worried. Heinz-Josef Heile, head of the rural development programme for GTZ, a German aid group that works with farmers in Timor-Leste, told IRIN farming depended heavily on clan cooperation and a land title could give certain members unfair power.
"Responsible community leaders are better than issuing titles," Heile said. "If you don't consider the position of the community in general, a land title would be a disaster because people would be kicked off land they don't own, which wouldn't happen under the traditional system."
Timor has a population of about one million people and Ridsdel said each family had about seven members, which should translate to about 150,000 land claims (one per family).
Foreign exploitation
GTZ works along the south coast of Timor, a wet plain about a day's drive from Dili. It is also a very cash-poor region, but has tremendous agricultural potential. "The south coast has more than 50 percent of the agricultural potential in Timor-Leste, especially commercial agriculture," he said. Once titles exist, Heile added, they could be exploited by foreigners seeking cheap land.
Foreign investors have already expressed interest in mechanised farming. So far the only thing stopping them has been the lack of legal land ownership.
But while clear property titles and land laws could spur social stability and economic development, there are others who oppose them. Some of the wealthiest people in Timor have massive land claims dating from Portuguese times and those are likely to be challenged.
"The Portuguese gave relatively few titles, and we have heard anecdotes that sometimes these titles were not based on traditional occupation of the land, but were given to families who had risen to power," Ridsdel said. "It was not a free and open titlement process."
Under the Ita Nia Rai programme, land claims will be grouped as contested or uncontested claims. All contested claims will first be mediated at the community level. With Timorese courts overwhelmed by thousands of untried cases, Ridsdel said community mediation might be the fastest and best way to resolve some issues. But whether or not such mediation will be recognised legally depends on whether or not the Ministry of Justice can pass a land law.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
