Government of Timor-Leste

Dili, February 15^th, 2023, the Vice Prime Minister and the Minister of Planning and Territory, José Maria dos Reis, along with the Secretary of State for the Affairs of National Liberation Combatants, Júlio da Conceição “Loro Mesak”, Members of the National Parliament, former retired General, Lere Anan Timur, and the Portuguese Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Mrs Manuela Bairos, participated in the official ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Chama Eterna Garden (Eternal Flame Garden).

At the ground-breaking ceremony, the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Territory, José Maria dos Reis, stated that “this construction of the Chama Eterna Garden is essential for the State of Timor-Leste because it will allow us to open a new page in the process of preserving the memory of the Maubere People's Struggle, which, as we all know and feel, comes from the suffering and collective struggle of the Maubere people, when we rose and resisted against external domination and occupation. It is these memories that the State is responsible for trying to permanently collect so that it becomes a collective memory from generation to generation so that we may continue to remember and value the history of the National Liberation Struggle of Timor-Leste for a Free and Independent State”.

The Vice-Prime Minister also stated: "we began with the ceremony of digging the Sacred Objects, and now we are launching the construction of the Chama Eterna Garden. This event is a significant step towards disclosing the country's historical heritage and consolidating National Identity. When we say that it will be a garden, it is because this space will flourish with the memory of the Struggle. It is a memory full of the Principles and Values of the Heroes and Martyrs of the Nation. This flourishing will also be a foundation for the new generations so that they may assume the primordial task of national liberation by continuing to follow those principles and values of the Struggle, the sense of belonging, abnegation and wholeness for the people and the nation.

The Chama Eterna Garden will also allow the Archives & Museum of Timorese Resistance to have an exhibition space to promote and sponsor cultural, scientific, and educational actions in the preservation and dissemination of the memory of the Timorese People's Resistance struggle, for the recognition and valorisation of the veterans, for the consolidation of national identity, the contemporary history of Timor-Leste, and the promotion of peace and respect for Human Rights. It will also be able to accommodate the memories of the Portuguese Colonial Administration's historical period and the background of the Indonesian Military Invasion.

During this launching ceremony, the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Territory,