Atambua (Fides Service) - Fully aware that creation is the work of God's hands and a gift to be protected, the Catholic Church in West Timor has launched a Lenten campaign to reclaim formerly de-forested land used for camps for refugees fleeing fighting in East Timor. Some 200,000 people Catholics and Muslims and Hindus joined enthusiastically in various initiatives to restore the area to its former natural beauty.
During a Mass celebrated in the open air on one of the sites, Bishop Anton Pain Ratu of Atambua called all the local people, whether Catholics, Muslims or Hindu, and also civil associations to participate in the campaign. Already some 10,000 new trees have been planted over an area of 13.500 hectares used for camps by some 250,000 East Timor refugees who crossed the border after the 1999 referendum when the people said yes to independence from Indonesia.
To set up camps refugees trees were cut down and the land was used also to grow vegetables and grain, to guarantee survival especially when humanitarian aid supplies were blocked after UN aid workers were killed at Atambua. The Bishop said he appreciated the need to cut down the trees at the time but that now the time has come to restore to area to its former natural beauty, he said " Creation must be protected it is the work of the hands of God" . PA (Fides Service 24/3/2003 EM lines 22 Words: 252)