A representative of the President of the Municipal Authority (PAM) of Ainaro, Ruivo Barros Magno, said that 18 villages in his municipality still do not have access to electricity, meaning communities continue to live in the dark, especially at night, which limits social, educational, and economic activities at the village level.
“In Ainaro Municipality, there are a total of 21 sucos and 131 aldeias, but up until now 18 aldeias still live in darkness. We have made many requests to EDTL (Electricity of Timor-Leste) to extend electricity to these communities, but electricity has not yet reached them. This problem impacts children’s ability to study at night and prevents the development of economic activities,” PAM Ainaro representative Ruivo said via telephone.
He highlighted that in some surveyed villages, construction has already begun and is awaiting completion, such as in Maubisi Vila suco, and Tidituku village is just waiting for the company to finish the work, while in others, the data has already been included in the 2025 plan.
“Communities in these villages live far apart, so it is difficult to extend electricity to them. However, we have collected all the data, and where it is not possible to bring electricity, we will distribute solar panels instead, like in Leolima suco, Goulau village, where we have already distributed [solar] panels,” he added.
He also noted that challenging geography, limited budgets, and technical constraints are the main factors hindering electrification projects in the region.
“Electricity is not only about lights. It is also about quality of life, education, health, and the community’s economic growth. We will continue to appeal to the central government to resolve this issue,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Ainaro Municipality EDTL Coordinator, Julio de Sá Benevides, said that some villages in Ainaro Municipality still have no electricity installation because communities live far apart and some companies have delayed work.“Liurai suco has already been tendered to a company, but the process has been very slow. That is why we are still waiting for them to finish. This electricity process has been impacted by companies that have not worked responsibly, causing construction and installation delays that have not yet been completed,” he explained.
