quinta-feira, 25 de novembro de 2010

TIMOR-LESTE: Preparing for the worst

TIMOR-LESTE: Preparing for the worst
 
 
11 Nov 2010 00:43:00 GMT
Source: IRIN
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
 
DILI, 11 November 2010 (IRIN) - Hardly a tremor was felt in Timor-Leste after the undersea 6.1 magnitude earthquake 85km north of the capital, Dili, on 16 October. The country, sited in one of the world's most volatile volcano and earthquake-prone areas, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, has been spared any fallout from regional tremors, but experts worry about just how big a disaster such a small country can handle. The half-island nation of 1.1 million people split off from Indonesia in a bloody independence struggle in 1999 that resulted in the displacement of thousands. "We are ready for anything, from fire to floods," said Francisco do Rosario, director of the National Disaster Management Directorate (NDMD), which coordinates efforts to prepare for and clean up after disasters. He confidently cited emergency simulation exercises with the US, Australia and Japan earlier in 2010 and emergency plans drafted for droughts, floods and earthquakes. But these plans do not reflect the current disaster management structure, nor the decentralized approach taken by the government to dividing up disaster duties, say international experts, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 
 
Indeed, after a recent government workshop that evaluated the country's disaster risk management, recommendations were made to create a joint inter-ministerial and NGO partners' disaster response plan, and to hold regular inter-ministerial meetings in an effort to bolster government coordination. Leadership The country has a national disaster risk management inter-ministerial committee, a Secretary of State for Social Assistance and Natural Disasters and the Ministry of Social Solidarity, which houses NDMD. Until 2 September this year, the Office of the Vice Prime Minister had procurement rights for disaster clean-up, which were revoked after Mario Carrascal, the former deputy prime minister, was accused of corruption. 
 
At the end of September, the Prime Minister's office asked parliament to suspend the national humanitarian coordinator, the other Vice Prime Minister, Luis Guterres, on charges of abuse of authority. Challenges in "day-to-day coordination of disaster risk management activities" include poor coordination between various levels of government as well as among government ministries, according to a report submitted by NDMD to the Secretary of State for Social Assistance and Natural Disasters in late August. However, Rosario dismissed concerns of lack of leadership in disaster management, and said communities continued to work to minimize any fallout from disasters. Next steps Because of calls for improved needs assessments that provide more and better information before emergencies happen, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has been charting needs assessments worldwide since 2008 for the Assessment and Classification of Emergencies project. [http://ochaonline.un.org/ocha2008/html/focus_assessment_emergencies.htm ] .

Results of assessments by different agencies in Timor-Leste are being compiled. Cruz Vermelha de Timor-Leste, the Red Cross, conducted its most recent vulnerability assessment five years ago in all 13 districts, finding all to be flood-prone, said its disaster management coordinator, Luis Pedro Pinto. The Red Cross has trained more than 40 volunteers nationwide to conduct disaster assessments and with support from the International Office for Migration, is installing the country's first solar-powered early warning speaker system in Maliana in the southwestern Bobonaro district. "The country has been spared widespread death and destruction from natural disasters up to this point," said Pinto. "But we cannot be sure what will come. We have not been severely tested."
 
IRIN. All rights reserved. 

TIMOR-LESTE: Road repairs a boon to villages

TIMOR-LESTE: Road repairs a boon to villages
 
22 Nov 2010 10:22:06 GMT
Source: IRIN
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
 
DILI, 22 November 2010 (IRIN) - Timor-Leste's government is engaging rural communities to improve the country's road network, which is almost 60 percent unpaved, to create jobs and develop vital infrastructure. The TIM-Works Project, being implemented by the Secretariat of State for Vocational Training and Employment, with technical assistance from the International Labour Organization (ILO), is to improve 300km of rural roads, and provide routine maintenance on another 1,800km of roads. This will improve a sizeable chunk of the country's 6,000km road network and generate more than 1.2 million days of work for 26,000 beneficiaries, the ILO estimates. "The work on this road will make a big difference," Felismeno dos Santos, chief of Fahilebo village, where an estimated 1,500 people will be served by the development of the Labaloa-Fahilebo road, told IRIN. Three-quarters of Timor-Leste's 1.1 million citizens live in rural areas and engage in subsistence farming. As one of the poorest countries in Asia (ranked 120 out of 179 countries in the 2010 UN Human Development Index [ http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/ ]) and with an unemployment rate of about 25 percent, there is a growing need to inject income into rural communities. "The company came here and brought the work to us. I need to do this work so that I can support my family and my children. Here we normally farm for a living," said mother-of-eight Teodora de Sousa, 44, who is part of a group working on 2km of the Bucumera-Fahilebo road in Leorema village, Liquica District. The road (6.4km in total) serves about 1,600 people and the government has split the work between three local contractors, who in turn have recruited villagers. These roads will not only generate much-needed income but also reconnect villages with markets and health centres. "People in the village have many local products, like fruits and vegetables, so when we finish the road, they can use their cars to go the market [3km away] or access the local health centre," said Dos Santos. Fewer than a quarter of births in the district of Liquica (where both these villages are located) are attended by a health professional, and only 13 percent in a health facility, according to the government's latest demographic and health survey. Better roads mean better access to medical facilities. Fragile peace With 30 percent women and 50 percent youth participating in the project, the other hope is that the investment will help keep a fragile peace at what is a critical period for the half-island nation. Timor-Leste achieved formal independence from Indonesia in 2002, but spats of violence have dogged the young nation as recently as 2006 [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=84318 ], when high unemployment [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=85299 ] and widespread discontent [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=84659 ] contributed to fighting in capital Dili that forced 150,000 people to flee their homes. "Timor-Leste is entering a crucial period, one which will help determine whether it has overcome in a sustainable manner the political and institutional weaknesses which contributed to the events of 2006," said UN Secretary-General for Timor-Leste Ameerah Haq at the UN Security Council in New York on 19 October. The TIM-Works Project, which has a budget of US$10 million, began in October 2008 and will run until June next year. mc/cm/ds/mw© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org