Located east of Bali in the Lesser Sundas, East Nusa Tenggara (more commonly known by its Indonesian acronym of NTT) is home to around 550 islands including West Timor, Sumba, Flores and Komodo.

NTT is the closest Indonesian province to Australia only taking around an hour to fly to Darwin yet it is also one of Indonesia’s most impoverished and underdeveloped regions.

A recent report in Kompas revealed there were over 340,000 homes in NTT that were unfit for habitation.

Regional Secretary of NTT, Benediktus Polo Maing told Kompas one of the most important criteria in determining poverty is the quality of a home. "Homes are considered uninhabitable when they still have dirt floors, no toilets and walls are made from woven trees," he said.

Better housing also creates higher standards of living and helps build communities.

Benedict expressed his hope that there would be better coordination between central and regional governments to reduce the number of uninhabitable homes and improve the lives of many in local communities by providing decent housing facilities.

His hope may soon be realised. Antara News report the Indonesian government has been paying more attention to this issue and the development of a special economic zone in NTT has already been given priority.

Labuan Bajo, the capital of Flores and a main hub for tourists to visit neighbouring Komodo (famous for its dragons) has in fact, been assigned as one of Indonesia's 10 New Bali's and will be offered as a tour package to delegates of the forthcoming IMF-World Bank Annual Meeting being held in Bali in October.

"This could have extremely positive implications for local communities across NTT," says Justin Dallas from The Dallas Group. "There is powerful synergy between the tourism and property industries and once regional governments start talking with private enterprises to combine tourism growth with local housing needs, local communities will be the ones to benefit. Sustainable development, education and environmental care are what many of Indonesia's outlying islands need so they can move forward."

Sources: Kompas, Antara News, The Dallas Group

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