LH husu Prezidente atu sura didiak risku no legalidade TimorGAP

Iha 25 Maiu, Konseilu Ministru Timor-Leste nian aprova Dekretu-Lei atu kria Kompania Mina-rai Nasional ho naran Timor GAP, EP (hodi troka naran PETRONATIL). Prezidente Jose Ramos-Horta tenke deside atu promulga ka veta ba Dekretu-Lei ne’e.

Iha nasaun seluk, kompania mina-rai estadu nian ne’e dala barak akompanha ho pratika anti-demokrasia no illegal, korupsaun, estragus ambiental no konsekuensia negative seluk-seluk. La’o Hamutuk fiar katak kria kompania mina-rai nasional sei fo impaktu ba futuru Timor-Leste no tenke halo ho kuidadu, no tuir maneira Konstitusional.

Tamba ne’e, ami hakerek karta ida ba Prezidente (Ingles) husu nia atu foti desizaun ne’ebe matenek ne’ebe sei benefisia povo Timor-Leste tomak no salvaguarda rekursu naun-renovavel ita nia nasaun nian. Ami nia karta ne’e akompania ho submisaun (Ingles) ne’ebe ami haruka ba Sekertariadu Estadu Rekursu Naturais iha Novembru tinan kotuk kona-ba esbosu tuan legislasaun ida ne’e, tamba ami seidauk hetan versaun final. Ami nia submisaun foti pontus importante sira hanesan tuir mai:

• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional ne’e perigozu, no ita tenke aprende husi falansu no susesu husi rai seluk.
• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional tenke estabelese husi lei Parlamentu, laos dekretu lei Governu nian.
• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional tenke serve povo Timor-Leste.
• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional tenke tuir regulamentu ba ajensia estadu nian.
• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional presiza atu transparante no akuntavel.
• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional tenke dezeinha atu prevene korupsaun.
• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional labele hetan poder ne’ebe maka’as liu fali saida mak nia hakarak.
• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional nia lukru tenke ba liu Fundu Petroleu, laos investe deit iha kompania.
• Kompania Mina-rai Nasional labele hetan poder atu halo impresta ka fan asoens (bonds)/obligasi.

Tuir ligasaun ida ne’e atu hetan informasaun no analiza tan kona-ba asuntu ne’e.

LH asks President to weigh TimorGAP's risks and legality

On 25 May, Timor-Leste's Council of Ministers approved a Decree-Law to create a national oil company (NOC) named Timor GAP, EP (the name has been changed from PETRONATIL). President Jose Ramos-Horta is deciding whether to promulgate or veto this Decree-Law.

In other countries, state-owned oil companies are often accompanied by anti-democratic or illegal practices, corruption, environmental destruction and other negative consequences. La'o Hamutuk believes that creating an NOC will impact on the future of Timor-Leste and must be done in a careful, Constitutional manner.

Therefore, we wrote a letter to the President (Tetum original) urging him to make a wise decision which will benefit all of Timor-Leste's people and safeguard our nation's non-renewable resources.  Our letter was accompanied by the submission we made to the State Secretariat for Natural Resources last November about an earlier draft of this legislation, although we have since obtained the version approved (Portuguese original) by the Council of Ministers. Our submission raised the following main points:

• National oil companies are dangerous, and we should learn from failures as well as successes.
• The NOC should be established by Parliamentary law, not decree-law.
• The NOC should serve the people of Timor-Leste.
• This Decree-Law must be written clearly.
• The NOC should follow the rules for state agencies.
• The NOC needs to be transparent and accountable.
• The NOC should be designed to prevent corruption.
• The NOC should not be given more power than it needs.
• The NOC’s profits must be paid into the Petroleum Fund, not reinvested in the company.
• The NOC should not be empowered to borrow or issue bonds.

Follow this link for more information and analysis about this issue.

Audit confirms problems with electricity project

In April 2011, the Australian auditor Deloitte Touche Tomatsu presented a report on EDTL to the Prime Minister, who delivered it to Parliament on 27 May. Deloitte did not perform a financial audit, but reviewed a number of administrative and technical aspects of the current and future electricity supply in Timor-Leste and made about 50 recommendations.

Electricity will absorb 39% of Timor-Leste’s 2011 State Budget, and the Deloitte report increases transparency about this often-hidden sector. Although Deloitte states that its report is for the internal use of Government and Parliament, it contains essential information for Timor-Leste’s citizens, so La'o Hamutuk has scanned and translated it from Portuguese to English and posted it on our web site: scanned Portuguese original (6MB), Portuguese text (1MB), English text (1 MB) and English Executive Summary and Recommendations (0.1 MB)

The report covers EDTL’s activities from 2009 through September 2010, and discusses the agency’s administrative, financial, procurement, fuel, governance and maintenance problems, as well as how it interacts with the Ministry of Infrastructure, Pakote Referendum contractors and management contractor Manitoba Hydro.

Deloitte also reveals quite a bit about the heavy oil power plants and national electricity grid currently being built by Puri Akraya Engineering, Wartsila and Chinese Nuclear Industry No 22.

Former Woodside rep blames their "blundering arrogance" for Sunrise impasse

La'o Hamutuk has just published Cowboys, Ogres and Donors: A Decade of Corporate Social Responsibility in Practice by Mandy White, who represented Woodside in Timor-Leste in 2007-2008. The paper sharply criticizes Woodside's "ogres at the helm" and "sycophantic senior staff" for taking a Public Relations approach to Social Responsibility, "not making even tokenistic efforts" to develop Timor-Leste. Whyte describes the company's "blundering arrogance" in the negotiations over the Greater Sunrise  oil and gas fields:  "Woodside steadfastly refused to regard the Timor-Leste Government as a partner in the development of the Sunrise fields, seemingly characterising them not only as a 'thorn in the side,' but also as devious and untrustworthy. ...  [D]riving forward to a final investment decision without the Timor-Leste Government demonstrates an arrogant lack of regard for the relationship."

Follow this link for information about the debate over Greater Sunrise.

Celebrate/Selebra LH's new office no aniversariu

La'o Hamutuk was founded on 20 May 2000, and we will celebrate our eleventh anniversary on Friday, 27 May 2011, starting at 4 pm. This party will also inaugurate our new office on Rua dos Martires da Patria in Bebora, Dili, across from San Carlos school.

We want to say "thank you" and "welcome" to all our supporters, colleagues, neighbors and friends, and hope that you will join us for this happy event.

La'o Hamutuk hahu iha loron 20 Maiu 2000, no ita sei selebra aniversariu ba dala sanulu-resin-ida iha loron Sesta, 27 Maiu 2011, hahu tuku 4 lokraik. Festa ida ne'e mos sei inaugura ami nia eskritoriu foun, iha Rua dos Martires da Patria iha Bebora, Dili, iha Eskola San Carlos nia oin.

Ami hato'o dahuluk ami nia "Bemvindo" no agradesimentu ba La'o Hamutuk nia apoiante sira, kolega sira vizinu sira no belun sira, no konvida ita boot sira hotu atu partisipa iha eventu haksolok ida ne'e.

Obrigado ba ita boot nia partisipasaun.

LH fo treinamentu kona-ba Orsamentu Jeral Estadu

Iha fulan Marsu no Abril tinan 2011, La’o Hamutuk koopera hamutuk ho Fundasaun Mahein no Asosiasaun HAK, hodi halo treinamentu kona-ba Orsamentu Estadu 2011 durante loron tolu nia laran ba Sosiedade Sivil sira ne’ebe nia baze iha Dili no mos balun husi distritu sira hanesan Lautem no Oe-cusse.

Treinamentu ne’e foka liu ba seitor defeza no seguransa, seitor ne’ebe Fundasaun Mahein no Asosiasaun HAK tau-matan ba, maibe treinamentu ne’e mos inklui konseitu balun ne’ebe relevante ba Orsamentu Jeral Estadu nian hodi ajuda sosiedade sivil sira atu oinsa halo analiza. Ami tama aprezentasaun Powerpoint no dokumentu ruma husi treinamentu ida ne'e iha La'o Hamutuk nia website, atu fahe informasaun ba ema hotu. Ami mos iha planu atu fo treinamentu tan kona-ba asuntu importante ida ne'e.

Materia treinamentu nian kobre topiku sira hanesan:

1. Fundasaun
Inklui fundasaun legal, konseitu legal, gastus no reseitas ba orsamentu, Fundu Espesial no ezekusaun orsamentu.

2. Fontes Informasaun
Topiku ne’e atu ajuda partisipantes sira hodi bele asesu ba informasaun kona-ba alokasaun, gastus no reseitas OJE nian, no mos informasaun seluk ne’ebe sira presiza relasiona ho sira nia fokus area. Informasaun ne’ebe uza tenke mai husi dokumentus legal ka formal, bai-bain mai husi instituisaun estadu, hanesan website Ministeriu Finansas, Autoridade Nasional Petroleu, Autoridade Bankaria no Pagamentu (BPA), Jornal da Republika, no Portal Transparansia. Aleinde ne’e, iha mos informasaun sira ne’ebe mai husi organizasaun ne’ebe halo analiza, ezemplu website La’o Hamutuk, FMI, Banku Mundial, UNMIT no relatoriu Komisaun C Parlamentu Nasional. No mos bele uza informasaun sira ne’ebe mai husi media no politikus nain sira, maibe labele fiar lalais ba informasaun sira ne’e, presiza kompara didiak ho dokumentus legal, tamba dala ruma la konsistente ka reprezenta deit sira nia interese politiku.

3. Asuntu Importante 
Topiku ne’e koaliu liu asuntu sira ne’ebe iha relasaun ho kriasaun Fundu Infraestrutura, PEDN, ADN, ezekusaun orsamentu, gasta liu ESI (Fundu Petroleu), revizaun Lei Fundu Petroleu, osan restu (balansiu) husi tinan orsamental kotuk, portal transparansia, sustentabilidade ekonomia, imprestimu no debe.

Bele liga ba website La’o Hamutuk atu hetan material aprezentasaun no pajina web kona-ba Orsamentu Jeral Estadu 2011 nian.

UNDP publika ona Relatoriu Dezenvolvimentu Umanu Nasional

Hafoin hakerek relatoriu ne’e durante tinan tolu nia laran, Programa Nasoens Unidas nian ba Dezenvolvimentu (UNDP) publika ona sira nia Relatoriu Dezenvolvimentu Umanu ba dala tolu ba Timor-Leste, Jere Rekursu Naturál ba Dezenvolvimentu Umanu: Dezenvolve Ekonomia Naun- Petrolífera hodi alkansa ODM sira (English). Relatoriu ne’e lansa husi Prezidente Republika Jose Ramos-Horta iha 3 Maiu 2011, ho observasaun husi chefe UNDP nian Finn Reske-Nielsen, ekonomista Rui Gomes, Dr. Rui Maria Araujo (Konseilu Estadu), Deputadu Joaquim Amaral, Reitor UNTL Aurelio Guteres, no Charles Scheiner husi La’o Hamutuk. UNDP distribui Sumariu Ezekutivu (mos iha Ingles), Komunikadu Imprensa ida (mos iha Ingles) no sumariu estatistiku (mos iha Ingles).

La’o Hamutuk nia komentariu mak Timor-Leste tenke Manan Independensia husi Petroleu (mos iha PDF ka Ingles), inklui slide iha Tetum. Apezar apoiu objetivu relatoriu ne’e, ami konsentra ba pontus balun, inklui: 

Xina nudar nasaun uniku mak atinzi kresimentu GDP double-digit longo prazu, no Timor-Leste tenke halo planu ho metas ne’ebe realistiku ne’ebe menus husi 7%.	UNDP muda oinsa kalkula Indeks Dezenvolvimentu Umanu hodi uza GNI duke GDP no tinan eskola nian duke alfabetizasaun, ne’ebe redus tiha nia utilidade ba ekonomia ne’ebe dependente maka’as teb-tebes ba eksportasaun petroleum ho laiha esperiensia ho rekursu ne’ebe oituan.

Ohin loron Timor-Leste halo gastus barak ona kompara ho tinan 2009, bainhira mayor parte husi dadus relatoriu nian ne’e rekolha ona. Dotasaun ba edukasaun no saude tun husi 15.6% ba 9.6%, maske nasaun sira ne’ebe halo progresu atu atinzi Objetivu Dezenvolvimentu Mileniun (MDGs) gasta 28% sobre investimentu esensial sira ne’e ba umanu.

Populasaun Timor-Leste nian rapidamente sae, labarik sira ho idade menus tinan 10 barak liu dala rua kompara ho jovens sira ho tinan 20-29. Ohin loron ema 15,000 sei tamba ba forsa trabalho nian kada tinan, iha 2023, bainhira Bayu-Undan maran tiha, numeru ne’e sei sae ba 34,000.

Total rikusoin petroleum Timor-Leste nian limitadu teb-tebes, no nia rendimentu sei labele finansia aktividade estadu nian iha futuru hanesan nivel ohin loron $2.65/kada ema/kada loron, mesmu ho hipotezes ne’ebe optimista.	Politika gastus ohin loron nian sei hamamuk Fundu Petroleu iha tinan 2030.

Tuir ligasaun iha leten atu hetan informasaun, dokumentus no referensia ne’ebe kompletu kona-ba kestaun kritika sira ne’e.