East Timor blossoms after 21 years of integration

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.