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Subject: Timor-Leste International and Local Media Monitoring Feb 11,
2004
Timor-Leste International and Local Media Monitoring Feb 11, 2004 STL Malaysia will assist PNTL with M16 The Prime Minister, Dr Mari Alkatiri, said that the Government of Malaysia will assist PNTL with M16 riffles and other necessary equipment. He said that the Minister of State, Ana Pessoa would be departing for Malaysia soon to take care of the matter. Dr Alkatiri underlined the support that the government of Malaysia has been giving to the Government of Timor-Leste in the establishment of a special police unit. Apart from equipment, Malaysia will also provide instructors for police training, reported the newspaper. ILO team visits East Timor Regional Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Asia and the Pacific, Yasuyuki Nodera, arrives in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on Wednesday for a three-day official visit. Timor-Leste became the ILO's 177th Member State in August 2003, and three ILO projects will be fully operational in the country during 2004. The ILO welcomed Timor-Leste into the fold at a Sub-Regional Tripartite Forum on Decent Work in October 2003 in Auckland, New Zealand. Prior to Timor-Leste formally gaining membership to the Organization, the ILO had been providing technical support and training in areas such as labour market information systems, entrepreneurship, vocational skills and development and labour administration. Rehabilitation of Dili port officially marked The completion of the second phase of the Dili port rehabilitation project, which was started in early 2003, will be officially marked with a ceremony on 12 February 2004. It will inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Dr Mari Alkatiri and Japanese ambassador, Mr Hideaki Asahi, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General and UNDP Resident Representative, Mr Sukehiro Hasegawa. The Government of Japan which contributed a total of $2,999,000 USD funded the rehabilitation project. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office jointly carried out the project's implementation for Project Services (UNOPS) in cooperation with the Port Authority. Judicial socialization in 13 Districts The Coordinator of the National Dialogue (ND), Miguel Manetelu, said that a team from the National Dialogue will be sent around the 13 Districts to "socialize" with the population on the judicial system. He said that informing and educating the community was important due to the fact that the judicial system is still facing lots of difficulties. Mr Manetelu said that there many cases that have not been decided upon and the judicial system lacks coordination. He said it also needs more quality authors in laws within the judicial system. Portugal, TL "godfather" The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Dr Ramos Horta, said that he had asked the President of the Portuguese National Parliament, Mota Amaral, for continued support at the EU. Dr Horta said that in a way portugal was Timor-Leste "godfather" in the European Union (EU). He said that as a member of the EU, Portugal can influence the rich countries to support Timor-Leste. Health needs to reach isolated people The District Administrator of Viqueque, Francisco da Silva, said that there is good coordination between the Health Department and his Department, but the health department still needs to reach people in remote areas like Suco Uai-Mori, Posto Lacluta and Lia-Sidi. Mr da Silva said that people from these remote areas have to walk two hours just for medical assistance when they are sick. Clean water for Maubisse in 2006 The sub-District Administrator of Maubisse, Jose Mendonca, said that people in the Sub-District of Maubisse and District of Ainaro are without water and have to search for it everyday. He said that JICA has done a survey recently but said that it will be 2006 before they will commence the works for water supply. Cannot sell vegetables at reasonable price A stall vendor in the District of Gleno, Bendita Fatima Soares, said that its been very difficult for vendor's to sell their vegetables at reasonable prices because people just don't buy them. She said that if people don't buy, she and others like her don't make money to buy food. Human Rights workshop in Bobonaro A staff member of the UNMISET Human Rights Office, Sabino Mendonca, said that 30 members of the National Police Force in Bobonaro participated in the 2 day workshop on human rights. He said that the workshop objective was to teach the police how to avoid use of force and to respect human dignity. CEP supports 40 widows in Bobonaro A priest in the District of Bobonaro, Cyrus Bangue, said that he sought support from an International NGO and Community Empowerment Project (CEP) after hearing that 40 widows in the sub-district of Bobonaro were in desperate need of food. He said that the financial support that came from CEP made it possible for him to buy thermos and 20Kg of rice that was distributed to the 40 widows. Surprise visit by PM to Balide school The Prime Minister, Dr Mari Alkatiri and the Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Rosalia Corte Real, made a surprise visit to the secondary school in Balide this week. During the visit the school children asked the Prime Minister to help them solve problem with cleaning the school and the repair of tables and chairs. The Prime Minister said that the head of the school should make a report on the basic needs and the condition of the school for him to be able to solve the problem. Timor Post Sunrise project won't be established in TL, says Tilman The Vice-president of the Commission C in the National Parliament, Manuel Tilman, said that he does not believe that the Australian Government will open Bayu-Undan and Sunrise projects in Timor-Leste because they would have to spent a lot of money. He said that he has doubts that the Australian Government will invest in building new facilities for the oil and gas exploration. Mr Tilman said that it is important for Timor-Leste to insist that the international community and the NT Government allow development of the Bayu-Undan and sunrise projects as a "test case" in seeking alternatives for the oil exploration. Good results when nurses are trained The Vice-Minister of Health, Luis Lobato, said that the financial support given by the World Health Organization (WHO) to facilitate training of Timorese nurses for a year brought good results to the clinics. He said that the training consisted of how to treat sick people with due care, and the implementation of health practices in the field. Mr Lobato said that so far, the nurses have applied what they have learned well and the results have been very encouraging especially in the districts of Baucau, Viqueque and Lospalos. Jose Filipe External Affairs World Bank, Dili Office Ph: 723 0554 Tel: 332 4649 Support ETAN, make a secure financial contribution at etan.org/etan/donate.htm Back to February menu |