MSATM Minister Inagurates Uma Boco Suco Office and Meets with the Community in Natarbora Sub-District

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MSATM Minister Inagurates Uma Boco Suco Office and Meets with the Community in Natarbora Sub-District

Press Release, 3 March 2009

The Minister of State Administration and Territorial Management (MSATM) on Friday, 27 February 2009, officially inaugurated the Suco (Village) Office of Uma Boco in the Natarbora Sub-District of Manatuto, and also held a meeting with community leaders.

The construction of the Suco Office cost US$7,000, and though the project was contracted to the community, the project was implemented and completed well – an indication that the local community has a strong commitment to improve their sub-district, especially their Suco, Uma Boco. The Suco Office was built as the center of the Suco Administration and to facilitate the work of the local authorities as they address the needs of the community, organize meetings of the Suco Council and other social activities.

In addition, the Minister of State Administration and Territorial Management, Dr. Arcângelo Leite, held a meeting with representatives from five Sucos in the Natarbora Sub-District to disseminate information about the development in the nation, which the Fourth Constitutional Government has already completed and will continue in the future to respond to the needs of the people.

The decentralization process, said the Minister, which is being implemented in phases during 2009, will begin in four districts: Bobonaro, Dili, Oecussi and Baucau, with the remaining districts decentralizing in the following year. The decentralization process will give political power to Municipalities to make their own decisions without intervention from the national government.

Minister Arcângelo Leite asked the Manatuto District to be ready to decentralize, and to avoid being like other districts which say they are not yet ready to decentralize because they lack human resources. The Government recognizes that human resources are still limited, but we cannot wait until all human resources are completely ready before the decentralization process begins. The Central Government has a responsibility to address the limitations of the districts, but decentralization also needs to be implemented, and then we can see what weaknesses need to be addressed – if not, then we will never move forward because we are scared of problems.

In a recently released study, the International Republican Institute (IRI) said 77% of the community did not know about the proposed municipalities. But we would like to say that socialization about decentralization began in 2004 can has continued until now. This negative report released by IRI does not surprise us, but is a wake-up call for us to work harder. But whether we want it or not, in 2011 all 13 districts must become Municipalities; this is the commitment from the Ministry of State Administration and Territorial Management.�

In 2009, we will have elections for the Suco Leaders (Chefe Suco), and the government has already proposed new mechanisms for candidacy. The process will not be as before, with phased elections – because 2009 we will have one election for the Sucos in all districts. The Government asked the political parties to not be involved in the election of local authorities. We understand that this will be criticized, but the final decision will come from the National Parliament. During the elections for Local Government (Municipalities), however political parties should be involved.

During the meeting in Natarbora, the local community took the opportunity to ask the Government to attend the development needs of the Natarbora Sub-District, especially in the areas of communication because they are very isolated and do not have access to any communication. In addition, they asked the government to pay close attention to the bad roads in their sub-district so that public transportation can begin to traverse their area and bring their goods to the market to be sold.

To answer their questions, Minister Leite promised to raise these issues at the Council of Ministers for the consideration of relevant Ministries, which can take the appropriate steps to address these needs.

Attending the meeting was community members from five Sucos, the District Administrator of Manatuto Sr. Elvino Bonaparte, the National Director of Local Administration, the STAE Director and others.

ENDS.

For more information, please contact:
Mr. Sebastião Pereira, Mobile: 735 7544