The community in Madohi suku (village), Dom Aleixo Administrative Post, Dili Municipality, continues to struggle to access clean water and is asking the government to address the problem urgently.
Madohi Suku Chief Bernardino de Cristo said several aldeias (hamlets) still lacked reliable access to clean water, including Loromatan, Naroman, Beto Leste, 7 de Setembro, Anin Fuik and Teras Santana. He said residents in some areas had to travel long distances to collect water.
“The water shortage also causes difficulties for women and children, especially in aldeias far from roads and basic infrastructure,” Suku Chief Bernardino said at his office in Madohi suku, Dili.
He said suku leaders had identified their priorities and presented them to the administrative post and municipal authorities, but no concrete action had yet been taken.
“This may be due to a lack of funding and technical resources in the ministries concerned. Sometimes planned programmes must be postponed repeatedly because of these limitations,” he said.
According to the suku authorities, more than 700 people in the area previously lacked access to clean water, showing the scale of the problem and the need for urgent government action.
Bee Timor-Leste (BTL, E.P.) Director of Operations and Maintenance Aleixo dos Santos confirmed that Madohi had a problem with access to clean water. He said the existing supply system could not adequately meet residents’ needs.
“One option is to supply water through the old pipe network. We need to assess it first, and any work will depend on other infrastructure being ready, including electricity and technical installations,” he added.
He said Madohi’s geography and the highly localised design of its water supply system limited distribution.
He added that the airport expansion project affected parts of Madohi and had a direct impact on the development of the water system and added that BTL needed to follow the government’s plans and find a way to connect Madohi to the future water supply system.
