East Timor blossoms after 21 years of integration

Text and photos by IGN Oka Budhi Yogaswara

DILI, East Timor (JP): Indonesia's youngest province this week celebrated its 21st anniversary of integration with Indonesia.

After four-and-a-half centuries as a Portuguese colony, East Timor was integrated into Indonesia on July 17, 1976.

The world hears much about East Timor but too often it is the negative side, such as sporadic violence and the Fretilin guerrillas' separatist struggle.

But these unflattering aspects aside, the everyday activity of regular Timorese focuses mainly on improving their lives and developing their province.

To highlight the province's development, The Jakarta Post's photographer IGN Oka Budhi Yogaswara and other members of the press recently toured East Timor with members of the Indonesia- Portugal Friendship Association to see how the 857,000 East Timorese lived.

During its five-day stay, the group headed south from the provincial capital of Dili to Same region.

It was obvious that 21 years of integration had begun to bare fruit because buildings and physical infrastructure had been built as testament to successful development.

This photo display provides a snapshot of life in developing East Timor.

But like in many other provinces, disparity is still apparent. It is caused by a lack of infrastructure and recurring security problems in some areas.

Covering 14,609 square kilometers, East Timor comprises 13 regencies and 62 districts. Its people, predominantly Christian, mostly work in traditional agriculture.