BACK DOOR Newsletter on East Timor

A collection of items about the provision of water and sanitation following the massive violence and destruction of infrastructure committed by militia groups trained and supported by the Indonesian army.

NEW = Added to BACK DOOR Website since last Monday's Emailout

see also Health

Sep 20 A Popular Challenge to UNTAET’s Achievements  Statement added Sep 20
"UNTAET has recently published in the September issue of its broadsheet Timor Tais 20 of the UN’s major achievements in East Timor. Many of these achievements are either misleading or things that UNTAET has been forced to do under pressure from Timorese people, civil society and leaders and international critics. ...
14.  Basic Public Services: The experience of East Timorese in terms of basic services does not match UNTAET’s description. Most people are dependent on well-water. The water of East Timor, due to lack of major industries, has jot been polluted. However, if the water is potable why do so many in UNTAET rely on bottled water? Power failures are the order of the day. An independent assessment is really needed for all aspects of infrastructure and health and education. To obscure the  real problems in order to claim UN success will do a grave disservice to the Timorese people."

Jun 13 ET W&S NGOs: Donors’ Conference: Water & Sanitation  Paper added June 15
"Water and sanitation provision across East Timor is still a right denied to many. An immediate manifestation of this fact is the compromised health of communities due to both a lack of water and the range of water-born diseases that are making an impact. On a lifestyle level, the absence of a water distribution system is absorbed almost exclusively by the labour of women and children, as they are the ones who must carry water over long distances." East Timorese National water and sanitation (W&S) NGOs

Tetum:
Abríl 2001 BLH: Faktos Kona Ba We Botir  Overview added June 27
"Botir plastiku mamuk nian iha quartel UNTAET nia liur. Ida ne’e bidon recycle (mengembalikan) ida, maibe sei barak tan; botir barak mak sei soe namakare halo foer. ... Estimasaun distribuisaun ba tinan ida: botir 10,5 miliaun ... Estimasaun ba kustus tinan ida nian laran: 4 miliaun dolar" La’o Hamutuk, Instituto Timor Lorosa’e ba Analiza no Monitoring Reconstrucao

Feb 2001 Oxfam Horizons: Muleya: The right to basic services - Water & sanitation  Interview added Mar 23
"Did you enjoy the time there? It was fabulous. People received our program very well. Oxfam [CAA] was given the task of trying to rehabilitate the water systems in Dili and the western districts after the crisis. They did a great job, got the water going in districts where the destruction was up to 95 percent - with a lot of help from the communities themselves - then handed it over to the government to maintain. They put in new transmission lines, water tanks and pipes, which they call the Oxfam snakes; polythene pipes snaking up the mountains." Clara Muleya, manager, joint Oxfam environmental health program in Liquica province

Feb 17 Conference on Sustainable Development a great success  Release added July 25
"As a direct result of the conference ETTA Environment Protection Unit, and Water and Sanitation Unit are establishing an interdepartmental committee on waste management." Conference on Sustainable Development in East Timor coordinating committee

Portuguese:
Dec 22 2000 OTL: Reconstruir infra-estruturas adaptadas e sustentáveis  Report added Apr 4
" "Praticamente todo o serviço de água e instalações sanitárias foi destruído em Agosto-Setembro de 1999. Praticamente todo o pessoal de chefia e administrativo deixou Timor Leste e não voltará" (ETTA web site)." Observatório Timor Leste

Dec 22 2000 ETO: Reconstructing suitable sustainable infrastructures  Report added Dec 30
" "Practically all East Timor water & sanitation services were disrupted by the Aug-Sept 1999 post-referendum violence.  Practically all management and administrative staff departed East Timor and will not return" (ETTA web site)" East Timor Observatory