The Minister of State Administration (MAE), Jorge da Conceição Teme, said the village of Kraras, in Viqueque District, will be promoted as an historical tourism site to attract foreign tourists to Timor-Leste.
He said the 2014 budget will include an allocation to build a wall around the site with security.
The Village of Kraras, also known as the Village of Widows, is the site of one of the many massacres that took place in Timor-Leste during the occupation of the country by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999.
“The MAE in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism (MT) will conserve the historical site. We will have security at the site to ensure it isn’t damaged,” said Minister Teme, in Kraras.
However the Minister has concerns over the ability of security personnel to ensure the site is not damaged because at another historical site in honour of Dom Boa Ventura, in Luak, Manufahi District, damages to the site have taken place despite there being security on site.
“The security sits there to keep watch but does nothing. And we just keep paying him every month,” said Minister Teme.
He said security and maintenance responsibility over the Kraras site would fall under the District Administrator for Viqueque who would be in charge of finding adequate security personnel for the site.
Meanwhile Deputy Prime Ministry, Fernando Lasama de Araujo, said first the MAE will have to allocate security personnel to be posted at the historical site.
“The Ministry of Social Solidarity and the Ministry of Tourism will have some oversight too so the work is done properly,” said Deputy PM de Araujo.
In the meantime, Bibileo Village Chief, in Kraras, Jose Marques Amaral, recommended security be provided by the youth with support from the National Police of Timor-Leste PNTL and from the Defence Forces F-FDTL so security is maintained.
“I think it is necessary to post a watchman there to control and keep watch so people and animals don’t just wreck the site,” said Village Chief Amaral.
