The Minister of Public Works, Gastão de Sousa, accompanied by the President of the Commission E of the National Parliament, Pedro da Costa, was on Thursday, July 11, in Tibar, for the groundbreaking ceremony of the road rehabilitation project. This road project, Dili – Liquiçá – Ermera, has about 60 km and has a budget of around 50 million U.S. dollars.

The road connecting Dili to Liquiçá has 28.62 Km and has a budget of over 20 million U.S. dollars, with maintenance included. The road from Tibar to Gleno has 31.89 Km, and for this project, has an allocated budget of over 29 million U.S. dollars for reconstruction and maintenance.

According to Gastão de Sousa “this project will be implemented in four years. For the pavement it will be used hot mix tar, which can last up to 20 years. “

“The Fund for implementation of the project comes from the Asian Development Bank and from the State Budget of the Government of Timor-Leste”, informed Gastão de Sousa.

The Minister further explained that “these projects comply with the rules and procedures established by the Government of Timor-Leste, before starting the implementation stage. All documents went through a prior review by government institutions, including the Secretariat of Major Projects, the National Development Agency, the National Procurement Commission and, finally, the approval by the Court of Auditors.

The President of the Commission E of the National Parliament, which deals with issues related to infrastructure, Pedro da Costa Mártires, stressed: “This program is part of the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) for the rehabilitation of basic infrastructure. It is our wish that the people have access to and benefit from the social economy. As a state representative, I make sure that the people has access to good roads “.

The District Administrator of Ermera, Victor dos Santos, asked the companies to construct with quality because it will have a positive impact on the economic development of the population in the two districts, Ermera and Liquiçá.

The Spanish company San José S.A., is responsible for implementing the project of rehabilitation of the road linking Dili and Liquiçá, while the Indonesian company PT. Pembangunan Perumahan Perser PDK is responsible for the rehabilitation of the road from Tibar to Gleno.