Prime Minister to get to know the challenges of water supply in the country
The Prime Minister, Rui Maria de Araújo, made a visit to the Directorate General of Water and Sanitation (Portuguese acronym: DGAS), in Caicoli, Díli, on August 11th.
The objective was to listen to those responsible for the resolution of challenges related to the distribution of drinking water, which is currently a problem for the people in Timor-Leste.
The Head of Government was accompanied during the visit by Vice Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications, Januário da Costa Pereira.
The Director General of the DGAS, João Pereira Jerónimo, made a presentation on the programs that are in progress and the priorities for 2016.
"Drinking water is very important for the communities. There are some things that work well and others which need to improve to respond to the needs of Timor-Leste”, the Prime Minister said.
Regarding the longer term, the Chief of the Executive asked the DGAS to submit a Master Plan, with a joint goal to address the needs of water within the national territory.
"If we can invest in electricity, we can also invest in drinking water, in the coming years? If we cannot resolve this now, we will spend the next 20 years coping with the same problems," said Rui Maria de Araújo.
The Prime Minister and the Vice Minister, along with the team from DGAS, inspected the network’s collection, treatment and distribution of drinking water, already built in Díli.
On the challenges identified, in particular the fact that some people still do not have access to safe drinking water within the distribution system, the Prime Minister requested DGAS’ leaders to determine what is happening and to resolve these situations.
"As Head of Government, I take time to learn about the problems in order to face the future. The issues of water are not only of Díli, but throughout the country. If we have adequate reserves across the whole territory and we are able to plan better collection, treatment and distribution, we will be able to grant access to drinking water to the whole population," added the Prime Minister.
