The Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications has launched the book of Water Resources in Timor-Leste, on May 25th, 2016, in the room of the MoPWTC – Caicoli, Dili.
The Minister Gastão de Sousa congratulated the technical team that prepared this informative document so that the entire population knows the water with which they can count on in Timor-Leste: “This is not a scientific paper but a source of information for the entire population to use, in particular the young who can get to know how you manage the water resources of Timor-Leste”.
He went to further state that, to date, the Government was unable to solve the problem of water supply throughout the territory. However, he hopes that the Government partners, such as Australia, ADB, UNICEF and South Korea can support in the resolution of the needs of the populations in terms of access to drinking water.
The Minister stressed that the National Directorate for Control and Quality of Water has been supported by the development partners, which are Norway and the American agency USAID, through the BESIK (Bee, Saneamento no Ijiene iha Komunidade, i.e. the community programme to supply water, sanitation and cleaning) programme.
The book took three years to be completed and is written in three languages: Portuguese, English and Tetum. “Together we will preserve the water resources so that, in the future, our children and grandchildren will successfully develop this country “, emphasized the Minister.
The Deputy Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications, Januário da Costa Pereira, stressed that water is an essential resource for our life and has also a social, economic and cultural value.
In turn, the National Director of Control and Quality of Water, Gregório de Araújo, alerted to the need to manage well the consumption of drinking water.
The Director General, National Directors, Heads of Department and officials of the Ministry, representatives of the development partners, members of civil society and guests from other Ministries took part in the ceremony.