Dili, 05 March 2026 (Média Democracia) – The President of the National Institute for Combating HIV-AIDS, Daniel Marçal, apologized to the local Authority and the Community of Leo-Lima Village for postponing the information socialization due to a river with high water volume, making it impossible for the INCSIDA team, Municipal Authority, and Bonobaro health team to croos, as there is no bridge.
President INCSIDA Daniel Marçal said, on behalf of INCSIDA, to express apologies to the village chief, Boobonaro authorities, and health officials.
“We didn’t want to cancel, we had plans to come to Leo-Lima Village, but here, a big challenge, we can’t cross the river, the Village Chief tried hard, we all tried, but we have to consider the risk, we can’t play with the river, we can’t predict the rain, so on behalf of INCSIDA, I apologize to the Village Chief, the community, Bobonaro authorities, and health officials.” said INCSIDA President to journalists in Leo-Lima Village on Wednesday (04/03/2025).
He said, even though it’s cancelled, one day we’ll come back to meet the community in the village.
“Don’t be discouraged, one day we’ll come back here, chief village sad, with a heavy heart, seeing the mothers leave their work for the whole day to wait, but we couldn’t meet because of the big river, it’s hard to predict, if it rains and the river floods, what would we do? The community wants to cross, but we can’t do anything, if it rains heavily, we’ll just have to stay put and wait, we can’t risk it, we’ve already avoided risks that could’ve taken two lives, let’s avoid those risks.” He affirmed.
On this occasion, the Representative of the President of the Municipal Authority of Bobonaro, Domingos da Costa, stated that the Municipal Authority, INCSIDA President, and Village Chief decided to cancel the socialization in the village.
“The community can’t come here, and our team can’t go there either, so we decided together the Village Chief, INCSIDA President, Municipal Authority, including the Secretary of Finance decided to cancel. But we’re very sad to cancel because the information we want to share with the community is about HIV-AIDS. This sensitization program is also about blood draw.” said the Secretary Domingos da Costa.
On the other hand, the Village Chief of Leo-Lima, Rui Moniz Ferreira, is sad that due to the road conditions and the big river, they decided to cancel the socialization program.
“The activity today was really important to carry out, but our road conditions and lack of a bridge, at a time like this, the community from 4 Hamlet, over 200 people, have to go back. The president and authorities cancelled because it’s a risk with the river right in front of us.” He emphasized.
The Local Authority is very sad because the INCSIDA team from the national level came to share information with the community about people’s health, especially HIV-AIDS, but couldn’t due to the big river, which led to the cancellation and postponement to another time. It’s very sad because around 200 community members had to go back.
Reporting : Estefania
Photo : Estefania