Lolotoe sub-district Popular Consultation about the NSDP
The Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, carried out the popular consultation for the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP), in the Lolotoe sub-district, Bobonaro district, on the 23rd of July.
The population welcomed the Head of the Government, according to the traditional habits, which include dressing the Prime Minister with the traditional Lolotoe costume and make an appearance in the elders council. Here, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão received, from a group of children, a bouquet of flowers and the acclamation “viva Maun Bo’ot e viva Aman Dezenvolvimentu” (Long live our big brother and long live the Father of the Development).
After this traditional reception, the delegation, accompanied by a queue of elders, with the flag and traditional dances, went to the location meant for the NSDP socialization.
The sub-district Administrator, Nicolau Monis, started by presenting the Lolotoe geographic data, one that has seven sucos, and twenty villages. The local population is composed of 6 992 persons (3 425 man and 3 567 women). They are 1 512 families where the majority (90%) dedicate themselves to agriculture. The remaining 10% of the local population are civil servants.
The Lolotoe sub-district (with a total area of 169 Km2) borders the Suai Vila sub-district to the North, to the South with the Belu and Atambua districts (Indonesia), to the East with the Bobonaro sub-district and to the West with the Maucatar sub-district, Suai district.
Nicolau Monis, asked the Prime Minister to increase the number of permanent police officers in the region, because Lolotoe is near the border with Indonesia and because the population considers that only 6 police officers for the sub-district, is insufficient. The administrator also asked for more health technicians (especially midwives, since there is only one in Lolotoe), the creation of a High School, road improvement, electrical power, potable water and sanitation and installations to work the coffee.
The community leaders also explained to the Prime Minister of their needs, which, in general, coincided with the ones presented by the administrator, in the name of the population: better roads, potable water, electricity and they added the construction of an nursing home for elders.
In his answer, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, started by pointing out the importance and the sense of Independence, remembering the one’s who fell in the mountains slopes. In this way, the Prime Minister underlined the patriotism of the Timorese, to whom the State has an obligation to look after their conditions and necessities.
The Head of the Government explained that the Government is planning to make funds available, between 2011 and 2030, to improve national, regional and rural roads, in order to answer these concerns about basic infrastructures. He added that all these manifested preoccupations are covered by the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) for 2020, stating that “it was precisely to explain the NSDP, that I came here, and to listen to all the population of this Lolotoe sub-district”.
Accompanying the Prime Minister in this visit, were the parish Priest and the Lolotoe Nuns, the Minister of Health, Nelson Martins, the Minister of State Administration and Territorial Planning, Arcângelo Leite, the Secretary of State for Livestock, Valentino Varela, the Secretary of State for Social Assistance and Natural Disasters, Jacinto Rigoberto, the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Arboriculture, Marcos da Cruz and the Secretary of State for Public Works, Domingos Caeiro.
*According to OCHA data, Timor-Leste District Atlas, Version 02, August 2008 (consulted in the internet).
