Dili, 30 May 2026 (Media Democracia) – The Atsabe Youth Movement (MOFA) held a press conference regarding major public concern about the condition of road infrastructure in Ermera Municipality. MOFA asks the Government and relevant entities to prioritize the recovery and repair of roads that are already damaged and directly affect economic activity and community access.
According to the Spokesperson of the Atsabe Youth Movement (MOFA), Agustino Gomes Fernandes, he said that the roads used by the people’s movement are now a major obstacle to development and community well-being.
“The roads that should serve as routes to facilitate people’s movement have now become a major obstacle to development and community well-being. The reality and concern of communities who use public transport daily: before a year ago, travel from Dili to Atsabe or from Atsabe to Dili normally only took 5 to 6 hours. But, because the roads keep getting worse and hinder transport, now people need 12 to 14 hours before reaching their destination. This situation is not acceptable for the people, because people lose productive time, face big risks during long trips that have to be made on roads in bad condition.” said the MOFA Spokesperson at Jardim 5 de Maiu (29/05/2026).
He further stated that due to concern over the bad roads, transport fares also keep rising and the cost has gone from $5 USD up to $17 USD.
“This concern becomes even more serious because transport costs also keep increasing sharply. Before, communities only paid US$5 each to travel to Atsabe. Now, because of the bad road conditions and increased operational costs for transport, transport fares have risen to US$17. This means people now have to pay more than three times the cost they used to pay. For farming families and communities living on limited income, this increase in transport costs becomes a very heavy economic burden.” he stated.
He added that another reality that is even worse is when public transport stops operating because the roads are bad.
On the other hand, the representative of the people of Ermera, Maudasi, said that if the government still has not responded to these concerns, they will not vote again.
“If there is still no response from the government we will not hold demonstrations, but we as the Atsabe Youth Movement will return to the Municipality and Sub-district and remind our communities that the party now leading and ruling this government will come back to lie again. That’s why we will provide training for our communities so they can be aware and pay attention when choosing the party that will rule again.” said the Representative of the People of Ermera, Maudasi.
MOFA asks the Government and relevant entities to prioritize rehabilitation of this infrastructure because it affects community access, the local economy, and movement for basic services. This problem not only affects people’s movement, but directly affects economic activities, education, health, and the daily lives of communities.
Reporting: Trainee Novita
Photo: Trainee Novita