There are concerns that homes built under the government’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) program in Craras, in Viqueque Municipality, intended for vulnerable members of the community are not being allocated to those in genuine need.
Craras resident Beatriz Miranda said houses were being distributed unfairly and going to those who most needed them.
“I want to question why five members from the same family each received MDG houses, but more vulnerable people didn’t,” she said.
Although Miranda receives a $230 monthly pension, she said it was not enough to support her family and send her children to school.
National Director for Social Assistance at the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MSS) Mateus da Silva said there was an established set of criteria to qualify for housing and a list of beneficiaries had been provided by local authorities.
“We don’t confirm each person in detail as we put our trust in local authorities. If they consider the person to be vulnerable, then we would approve it,” da Silva said.
Da Dilva said one reason why homes might not be going to genuine recipients was that in some cases families offered their land to the state to build houses.
Another reason was that some beneficiaries opted to hand over their house to other family members to live in as they were reluctant to leave their farms behind.
MDG houses are supposed to be provided to people experiencing genuine hardship or from vulnerable groups such as the disabled, elderly people, widows and poor families with many children.
MSS data shows that MDG houses have been built in 10 municipalities, including Lautem, Viqueque, Liquisa, Ermera, Ainaro, Covalima, Bobonaro, Aileu, Manatuto and Manufahi, which are expected to benefit 5592 people.
However, of the planned 2861 houses, 1831 are still under construction and not yet occupied.
President of Commission D (for economy and development affairs) MP Jacinta Abucau Pereira said their survey revealed that a number of MDG houses were sitting abandoned or in disrepair.
“The National Development Agency (ADN) is expected to check again as many houses were damaged and in poor condition,” she said.
