Inauguration of Bebui Irrigation in the Uatulari subdistrict
On February 27, the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, inaugurated the Bebui irrigation system in Uatulari Sub-district, Viqueque district.
Xanana Gusmão, recalled in his speech thatat the time of withdrawal "from the Matebian mountain, it was not possible to bring with us much of the rice available in this plain. The amount that we took was so little that the horses lost weight and we ourselves felt weak. When we were assaulted by the enemy, we were forced to abandon the little amount of rice that we had, and in 2001 we witnessed the sale of imported rice along the roadside. It was a long time. Only after 10 years have we managed to recover irrigation systems and give back water to our rice fields".
The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Mariano Sabino Assanami, said that "irrigation has the capacity to supply the equivalent of eighty thousand hectares although we only managed to supply sixty thousand. Therefore, we ask the citizens of Viqueque, especially the Uatulari residents, to use water efficiently so we can make an effort to provide “daily bread” for the entire population of Timor-Leste".
José de Sousa, representing the administrator of the Viqueque district, thanked "on behalf of the people of Viqueque, and in particular from the Uatulari sub-district, the support provided by the Prime Minister, because the irrigation will help farmers of this sub-district and improve our life from now on".
Besides the Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, those attending the inauguration included the Minister of Social Solidarity, Domingas Alves, the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Arboriculture, Marcos da Cruz, the Secretary of State for Livestock, Valentino Varela, the Secretary of State of the Council of Ministers, Agio Pereira, the Secretary of State for Administrative Reform, Florindo Pereira, the Secretary of State for Electricity, Water and Urbanization, Januário Pereira, the Ambassador of Portugal, Luís Barreira de Sousa and the district and sub-district authorities.
