Almost There!
Welcome to our first newsletter for 2008, as we enter the eighth year of the Connect East Timor Campaign! Hard to believe isn’t it?
I have recently returned from an eventful visit to Timor-Leste and was there for the horrible events of early February when President José Ramos-Horta was shot in what appears to have been a coup attempt. I was with the President only three days beforehand when he stopped at Atabae to inspect a CET radio installation and for an opportunity to address the sub-District via the CET radios.
While we may reflect on the length of our campaign, José Ramos-Horta’s struggle for the people of Timor-Leste had him in exile for 24 years from 1975-1999, travelling the world while lobbying governments, leaders and communities for a resolution to the Indonesian occupation. Since 1999, he has served his people in several key leadership roles. Last year he again committed himself to continue to work for his people, this time in the role of President. A few weeks ago, he almost paid the ultimate sacrifice for this decision.
I deeply admire him as an inspirational leader, a gracious and humble man who well understands that leadership is mostly about sacrifice and service, and far less about honour and glory. It was a great privilege to spend some time with him in Atabae. We all hope and pray for his continued recovery!
The main purpose of my recent visit to Timor-Leste was to assist with the establishment of the full-scale implementation project, the next logical stage of the Connect East Timor campaign. Consequently, I spent most of my time at the Ministry of Infrastructure, working in Pedro Braga’s office. (Pedro is one of the earliest friends of the CET campaign and has provided great support and assistance over the years including use of his office facilities whenever I have been in Dili.)
I briefed the Minister for Infrastructure, Mr Pedro Lay, and also held a number of meetings with Mr. Flavio Neves, Director of IT, and Mr. David Fay from the Ministry of Finance. In an email, David Fay confirmed that there is “unquestionable political support” for the next stages of CET.
In collaboration with these key people, a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) document was prepared. The RFP will seek consultancy services to provide the government with the necessary expertise to move the CET vision forward, noting that a national implementation project, involving 489 villages, is well beyond the capacity and resources of Palms/CET.
In my assessment, the Government now has all it needs to launch this consultancy, the first stage of the implementation project which has been named Project Telesuco (‘suco’ refers to the smallest unit of government administration: at the village level).
I think the name change is a good thing because it is catchy in Timor-Leste and also creates a separation between what is the CET humanitarian campaign and what will soon be a project funded and managed by the government. That CET is the parent of Project Telesuco is, however, beyond dispute.
It is important that you, our supporters, donors and volunteers, understand the significance of these developments. With the Government of Timor-Leste taking responsibility for funding and effectively finishing what we have started, the role of CET has changed considerably.
Rather than promotion and fundraising in order to raise all the funds (more than $4M) needed to achieve our goal of connecting all rural areas of Timor-Leste, we can now focus on supporting the Government of Timor-Leste with reasonable advice and assistance when requested and also to ensure that the systems we have installed continue to operate satisfactorily. These will need to be our key objectives for 2008 and 2009.
So while we are ‘almost there’, and our long-held goal is in reach, it is far too early to wind up the Campaign just yet! There is still important work to be done and I therefore ask for your continued support (whether as a volunteer, supporter, or donor in cash or in kind!) to see the journey through. Peter de Haas
Media Release - President Jose Ramos Horta
PRESIDÊNCIA DA REPÚBLICA
GABINETE DA PRESIDÊNCIA
DEPARTAMENTO DE COMUNICAÇÃO SOCIAL
08 February 2008
MEDIA RELEASE
HOPE FOR BETTER COMMUNICATIONS IN SUB-DISTRICTS AND SUCOS COMMUNICATIONS
During a brief stopover on Friday, President Ramos-Horta addressed the people of Atabae sub-District and thanked them for their example and leadership in being the first community in Timor-Leste to successfully trial a simple two-way radio communications system.
Speaking from the office of Sidonio Fontes, sub-District Administrator, Ramos Horta was able to address an estimated 2000 people gathered around solar powered two-way radios in eight of the larger villages. These were installed in May 2005 by NGO Connect East Timor and have been working successfully since.
“I am delighted to learn of the many good ways in which this simple and reliable technology has helped the community of Atabae” said Ramos-Horta. “It has not only saved lives of people who were very sick but has also greatly helped sub-District and church administration to work more effectively. Health workers and NGOs have also used it successfully to coordinate their activities”.
“Last year in September, similar systems were also installed in Balibo and Lacluta sub-Districts to further test the suitability of this technology. Without exception, all the people in these communities are very happy with it. The proven benefits and affordability of this technology just cannot be ignored.”
“For some time, I have been very concerned about the lack of affordable communications in rural areas of Timor-Leste,” he said. “This concern is shared by many people in the Government and the wider community. ”
“For this reason, and because of the successful Atabae experience, the Government budget for 2008 includes funds to commence a project - perhaps it could be named ‘Project Telesuco’ – which will provide all sub-Districts and sucos with an affordable, simple and reliable communications system using radio technology.”
“I understand that it will be possible to complete the project for all 66 sub-Districts. This will provide essential communications services pending the availability of more advanced universal services in future”, Dr Ramos-Horta concluded. – Ends
DEPARTAMENTO DE COMUNICAÇÃO SOCIAL DA PRESIDÊNCIA
DA REPÚBLICA DEMOCRÁTICA DE TIMOR-LESTE
Changing of the Guard in Lacluta
Many of you will remember ‘Dino” from the sub-District of Lacluta who came to Brisbane in October 2006 for training at Queensland Rail. What you may not know is that to support CET, Dino deferred completion of his university studies for over a year.
Now that the Pilot Project installations have been successfully completed, Dino has left Lacluta to continue his studies in Surabaya with the support of some generous people in Australia. We wish you well, Dino!
Before departing however, Dino carefully handed over his duties as the CET support worker to three young men who all assisted the installation teams in September last year. Peter de Haas recently in met in Dili with these enthusiastic young men who have kindly agreed to share the duties to support the village radio installations.
CET welcomes these young men to our team!
New CET Worker in Dili
Following a great contribution to the installation project work for the Dili District Administrator (DDA) in September 2007, Joao (‘John’) Ximenes Soares (photo shown here) kindly agreed to assist CET with the ongoing support of the DDA network, in a very similar manner to the arrangements in place for the sub-Districts where CET radios are installed.
With the support of the ACT Government as well as Henry Oosterbaan and Peter Snell, CET volunteers in Perth WA, it is likely that John will be coming to Australia in May this year. Thank you for agreeing to join the growing CET team that is based in Timor-Leste, John!
Financial Report
Since 1 July 2007, CET has expended $118,503.66 on the Pilot Project, on the recent visit by Peter de Haas and on administrative costs, the major one being telephone expenses: Timor-Leste is one of the most expensive countries in the world to call at AUD3.00 per minute.
Donations and other contributions received since 1 July 2008 amount to $33,755.17.
With an opening balance on 1 Jul 07 of $96,326.01, the current balance (funds available) in the Palms CET account is $11, 577.52.
(If you would like any further information, please contact the Campaign Office.)
Funds Needed for 2008/9
Given the change of focus for the campaign as a whole, the funds needed for 2008/9 will be much more modest. Based on a budget that covers:
o one-two visits to Timor-Leste to assist the Ministry of Infrastructure with Project Telesuco,
o ongoing maintenance support of the sub-District radio systems in Atabae, Balibo and Lacluta, and
o a maintenance inspection visit in 2009 by two CET volunteer technicians,
a fundraising target of $28,000 has been set for 2008/9 and this should be adequate to meet the expected costs of these activities.
Two key assumptions that have been made in arriving at this amount are:
o Unforeseen events such as storm damage are not included
o By the end of 2009, CET will be aiming to transfer responsibility, for further maintenance of our installed radios, to the Government.
Consequently, CET will need to raise approx. $16,500 this year to ensure that we are able to keep our commitments to the communities that have CET radios installed and to assist with Project Telesuco.
Please consider your ability to assist with this modest fundraising target.
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