USAID East Timor
Small Grants Program
Program Highlights Archive
Environmental Awareness Goes on the Road
(June 16, 2004)
To celebrate World Environment Day on June 5, East Timor's Environmental
Services Directorate launched its traveling environmental awareness expo
with a video show and beach clean up in Dili. The expo will promote a
better understanding of the negative impacts of pollution and teach
people practical ways to clean and care for their environment.
Secretary of State for Tourism, Environment, Investment, and Mineral
Resources Jose Teixeira opened the expo in the Bidau Santa Ana
neighborhood of Dili where some of the video footage was shot. Dozens of
community residents, including many children, came to watch the videos
and help clean up their beach. Directorate staff will take the expo to
four of East Timor's main cities: Dili, Ermera, Maliana, and Suai.
The expo features two videos. One explains the role of solid waste in
the environment, and the second offers a range of solutions to the
problems of trash and pollution, including recycling, composting, and
cleaning wastewater channels. In addition to screening the videos, the
expo will feature posters and brochures, games and activities,
particularly for children, and public service announcements in the
media. The expo will also address issues such as community empowerment,
deforestation, and biodiversity. After the expo, the directorate will
work with the Department of Education to show the videos in every school
in the country.
"Pollution in Timor-Leste is a critical issue," Teixeira told his
audience at the expo launch. "Plastics and other garbage that wash into
the ocean can have devastating effects on coastal areas by killing
marine life and covering our beautiful beaches with rubbish, and they
can contribute to health problems. If we do not make an effort to
dispose of our waste properly today, we are creating even greater
problems for our grandchildren."
USAID supported the Environmental Services Directorate's work to create
its environmental awareness campaign with a grant of $32,045. The
campaign helps East Timor's residents become more involved in
sustainable environmental practices that will mitigate the negative
health, economic, and social impacts of pollution.
Support ETAN, make a secure financial contribution at etan.org/etan/donate.htm