Friends of Suai

A meeting is to be held in the next two days in Suai between stakeholders interested in managing Broadband access in Suai.

At a meeting in Suai in June Ergilio Vicente, Simao Barretto and Friends of Suai Co-ordinator in Pt Phillip, Pat Jessen, met with Emanuel Braz, Deputy Country Director of the International Centre for Jouranlists to discuss the imminent broadband connection being brought to Suai by the ‘Uma Media House’ Project. The only Internet connection in Covalima presently is provided by Timor Telecom in Suai. The connection is very slow. The speed and maintenance of the network is an issue.

Despite many attempts, using a range of email service providers, in the YoMaTre Media Workshop in Suai in June, we were unable to email an image to Australia or to upload a single image to this website. It was frustrating in the extreme. Valuable time and money was wasted. It was very disappointing for the students, many of whom didn’t get the opportunity to practice what they had learned, due to the time it took to do simple tasks, taken for granted in Australia. Not to mention the $2.00 an hour paid for the service

After a meeting at the Community Centre and an inspection of the Radio Station Emanuel met with Ergilio at the Youth Centre to discuss the space for placement of the computers next to the YoMaTre Studio adjacent to the Youth Centre.

Following this meeting Pat Jessen met with Simao and Ergilio on separate occasions to discuss placement of the Internet computers, management and financial opportunities that Broadband can bring to their organisations and their community.

On Saturday, John Collins a member of the Friends of Suai Committee in Pt Phillip, left for Suai to attend the meeting between all stakeholders to be held tomorrow and Wednesday. There is no doubt, that Broadband access will be revolutionary for Suai and the rest of Covalima. and hopefully Internet access will be made available for the youth of Suai.

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