Author Archives: Squatter

The dirtiest city in the world

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Last week was a week of grumbling guts and an even bigger week for international relations with the visits of the Port Royal (a US Navy cruiser), the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and the new OZ PM Kevin Rudd. Personally, I have always wanted a PM called Kev … or Barry (ie Baz) … or even better again, Les.

But my award for international diplomacy goes to the President for claiming that Dili is the dirtiest city in the world. I am humbled that he has obviously analysed my recent post on the subject of garbage. However, there are plenty of cities with choking air pollution, obnoxious drains and horrendous noise pollution, all which would put Dili in the shade.

The President does regularly walk in the parts of town out east where garbage has been a problem on the beaches which is also near to where he lives.

He points out that contractors have been paid to do garbage collection but a weak supervision process in many public works contracts means things just don’t get done as well as they might. That needs to be improved and systems put in place to make it easier for people to dispose of garbage neatly. But lay off the pigs – the hardest working garbage processors in town.

The Rotary orphan’s XMas party

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The annual Rotary orphan’s XMas party was held on the grounds of the World Bank/Asia Development Bank yesterday. Rotary Australia provided gift packs for each child, PDL Toll provided the food, CHC helicopters provided the BBQ equipment and the Dili Hash House Harriers provided the labour for food preparation and organised games for the kids who came from as far away as Maubara.

Santa sweated his way through over an hour of gift giving in his red suit and was later seen at a local bar re-hydrating.

If you see one of the over 350 kids with bright yellow “postman’s” bags, you know where they came from.  Thanks Daisy.

Granite guts

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I swear I once had iron guts.  But the last couple of days, my once granite-like guts seem to be succumbing to some gastric nasties.  My stomach feels like I have eaten 20 meat pies whereas yesterday, I only had 2 cups of cup-o-soup after my weetbix for breakfast.

TL makes it the 3rd country where I have copped giardia and my amateur diagnosis is that I am in the early stages of yet another round.  I was in Lita supermarket at lunchtime and accidentally broke wind in the condiments section.  I fled to the cleaning products aisle fearing I may have injured some of the staff (or they might injure me).

It appears I am not the only one who is suffering from similar gastric difficulties but mercifully, I am still holding it together.  My understanding is that at this time of year when the wet season rolls in, a few nasties that have been lingering on the surface get washed into waterways and into the groundwater system.

The water barrels that we are all familiar with are all sourced from groundwater and if the disinfection procedure at the water factory is not adhered to (which it is supposedly often not), then problems do occur.

For the record, chlorination and/or ozone treatment is not much good for knocking giardia on the head.  UV treatment is better for parasites like giardia.  The UV basically makes the giardia bugs infertile so although they may still get inside you, they can not re-produce inside your guts and do not cause a problem.  Ideally, your premises should have a UV filter unit to be safe.

If not, JS told me that a sensible procedure is to leave the water barrels out in the sunshine for a couple of days if you want to be safe.

…

At times like this, air freshening techniques seem to be the go.  So last night, I dragged out the el-cheapo “essential oil” burner thing I bought in Bali and lit it up about 15 minutes before I went to bed.  I thought a bit of rose oil scent would calm the savage beast and be a pleasant way to head off into the land of nod.  When I returned, the whole thing was in flames and burning a hole in the chest of drawers (ie clothes drawer cabinet thing).  I tried to blow it out on the assumption it was just a candle but it just made the flames worse.  I grabbed food handling tongs from the kitchen and carried the blazing thing outside, hosed water on it and it spat stuff everywhere.  The house stunk of burning petroleum for hours.

The post-mortem was that the tealight candle had a healthy dose of kerosene or similar petroleum product as evidenced by the black stains up the bedroom wall and the damage outside the backdoor.  Moral – don’t buy cheap tealight candles.

Some days – sheesh !

Recent increase in fighting on Comorro Road

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Although this sort of thing has really been going on for quite some time but at a lower level, over the last week or so, the area between the airport roundabout and the Timor Lodge Hotel has come under repeated and increased rock fighting activity and worse (ie bow and arrow, slingshot and rama ambon).

At mid-afternoon today, it didn’t look too good in the distance down the road so I guess it was on again.  I saw 2 ambulances with sirens blaring heading from that general direction towards the centre of town (perhaps the hospital).

Someone told me it is a bit of gang warfare related to paying back for the death of someone in an earlier conflict.  So I guess it may continue for some time if it is going to be a tit-for-tat exchange of rough stuff.  One thing the crisis of last year did was upset some of the balance between rival groups/gangs who have existed long before last year’s problems.

The first of the Christmas nativity scenes are commencing construction but I suspect there will be none to be seen down near the roundabout this year.

The day at the races

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Having been last year to a day at the Tasi Tolu horse races, I was all hyped up for a big one. Suitably kitted up with the necessary refreshments for a warm afternoon, I was ready and waiting at the track at the advertised 3pm commencement.

I think the first race got away close to 4:30pm. By then, the deodorant had long given up, the super-absorbent gusset had failed and I felt a shade ragged. There were your typical Dili street vendors selling water, Tiger beer and soft drinks etc. No toilets, no betting ring and no corporate marquees except for the official thing on the inside of the finish line. I noted horses owned by the President, PM and President of the Parliament, although of the three, only Jose Ramos Horta attended.

Perhaps the UN police attendance was a bit of overkill. They provided a fairly heavy-handed presence and as it turned out in the end, they provided the metal barricades to keep the masses from the track. There were no problems but I heard one local was taken away for presumably going onto the track against instructions. But you’ll love this – the metal barricades were borrowed from the airport.

I estimated about 50 expats and maybe one or two thousand Timorese. There were about 5 or 6 races ranging from the small Shetland pony sized Timorese horses to the mammoths imported from Australia. Most jockeys rode bare-back with no helmet or footwear. Only some bothered with a whip – probably because they were holding onto their steeds like grim death. The last race finished at 6:50pm as dusk was settling, and this was the feature race of the day (I think). But to be honest, I didn’t have a clue what was going on as there was no published info anywhere about what was happening – even 5 minutes into the future.

Last year, the racing association spent good money on wooden railings, only to find that within a week, the lot had been snaffled for firewood. I was intrigued to see this year’s solution. This time, they graded the track and pushed dirt up into a very neat 300mm high barrier on the “inside rail”. Very effective. However rather than being nicked, a few heavy rains will return this to the way nature intended.

To be honest, it was a bloody hot day but I guess us foreigners do become accustomed to it after a while – as long as being soaked with perspiration does not cause offence to others. As for the heat, it means no matter how much you drink, you don’t seem to need a toilet – which was nowhere to be seen anyway.

Best hat of the day goes to Kate from East Timor Journal – a fetching number nabbed from a recently departed (to another country, I mean) acquaintance. By the end of the day, Kate had passed it onto RO who wore it no less as enthusiastically. But the dress Kate, where did you get THAT from ?

4 days at the races

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A Mr. Chris Head informs me that the race programme for the Timor Cup “carnival” is as follows :

Location : Tasi Tolu racecourse which is just behind the fancy Timorese building all by itself at Tasi Tolu (about 200 metres before the F_FDTL military base)

7/12 1500hrs 1 Cerimonia Abertura, 2. Corrida Eliminatoria be klasse Super no ABCDE
8/12 1500hrs Semi-Final ba klasse Super no Klasse ABCDE
9/12 1500hrs Final ba klasse ABCDE
10/12 1500 hrs 1 Final ba klasse Super no grande Final (Premio major) ba klasse ABCDE 2. Cerimonia Inceramento

It is not clear to me if it is just one race per day but it appears to start this afternoon (a public holiday).  The ANZ Bank are one of the sponsors and they will be putting on some form of food and drink.  I guess we will know the drill* by Saturday.

If you can find a classical music concert, the ballet or opera, feel free to attend those in preference.  But Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo (aka Mr.H, Mr.DD and Mr.S) will be at the races cheering on their faithful steed.

* drill – in this case, “the things that are happening and when”

More Christmas shopping courtesy of Alola

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For the cyclists and others that missed the market at Independence Hall last weekend, you have another chance this coming Saturday at the Alola Foundation premises.

Sounds like the same deal. Tais, pots, plants, wallets, bags, furniture, cards, soap, incense etc. Starts at 9am at Alola.

If you are capable of using Google Earth (ie reasonably fast internet connection), you could try my Google Earth Dili landmarks stuff. Otherwise, head towards the hills past the stadium, past the roundabout and Alola is a couple of hundred metres further along on your right. There ought to be a parking nightmare so you shouldn’t miss it.

PS  Cyclists can ignore comment about parking nightmare.

FOS, if you want me to load Google Earth plus my cached satellite imagery onto the FOS mothership computer, a suitable liquid incentive may be a winner.

Events for the cerebral

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There are 3 things I never do in public … these days. They are (1) line dancing, (2) take my clothes off and (3) karaoke.

For those into (3), your place on Saturday 1 December at around 7pm onwards is the Caz Bar. If that turns you on, there will be the 3rd and final round of “Dili Idol” at Jacks Bar on the following Saturday. I will not be attending as I am absolutely certain that like me, there will be some people who should only be singing by themselves in an anechoic chamber.

For the rest of us talentless people, there will be the Dili Cup horse racing meeting on 10 December at Tasi Tolu. I have no details or times but suspect you should bring your own food, drink and portable toilet. And probably your own racehorse.

For the Christmas shoppers, don’t forget the “1st Annual Timor-Leste Asean Trade Expo” at Independence Memorial Hall in Farol (ie across the road from the lighthouse) running from 10am to 6pm on Saturday 1 December AND Sunday 2 December*. You can buy any manner of tais, indoor and outdoor furniture, crafts, oils and soaps etc. etc.

* Thanks FOS for the correction.

Shopping for the sensitive new age guy

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Its funny how you spend half your working life wishing you earnt US dollars rather than the OZ dollar and now that you do, you would rather be paid the Pacific Peso (a now quaint historic term for the OZ dollar). One side-effect is that western goods sourced from OZ are getting a tad more expensive.

My new pack of 5 dozen Marathon dim sims now costs USD30, up from USD20 last time. Even the $2 Tiger beer is fast disappearing and it is only a matter of time before your typical OZ beer rockets from $2-50 to $3 over the bar. Mrs.Macs pies remain at around the $2-50 mark. For some reason, I don’t seem to notice the price of most other things except maybe breakfast cereal which has broken through my upper ceiling price.

It is worth noting that the general feel of Dili is significantly different when comparing early 2006 to now.  I would think western supermarket turn-over has trebled so goods ought to be fresher and turn-over greater.

For the discerning snag, here is my analysis of price increases from MY sample basket of goods.

Price increase is from March 2006 to October 2007 (close enough to 18 months). During the same period, the US dollar fell by 21% against the aforementioned peso. My sample is based on one selected vendor and as we know, prices can vary significantly between vendors.

Snag Item Price Increase
Melbourne Bitter cans (OZ) 21%
Heineken cans 29%
Tiger beer (Sg.) 17%
Bintang beer (Ind.) 0%
Penfolds Rawsons Retreat wine (OZ) 0%
Wolf Blass Red Label wine (OZ) 0%
Penfolds Koonunga Hill wine (OZ) 0%
Gordons Gin (part NZ) 11%
Johnny Walker Red Label 0%
Coca Cola (OZ) 21%
Coca Cola (Ind.) 20%
Soda water (Ind.) 20%
Heinz Baked Beans 10%

The figures are revealing. Some of your 100% OZ produced goods seem to have increased exactly with the fall in the US dollar. Non-OZ goods do a bit better. However, no matter what prices I looked at, OZ wine has not changed at all. I guess this reflects the production situation in OZ more than anything else.  Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

Waste, trash and other rubbish

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I went for a long walk along the beaches towards the Christo Rei statue recently and was amazed at the amount of rubbish washed up on the sand.  I suspect most of it was flushed out of the Dili city drains after recent rains and later deposited to the east of town.

This area on the east side just happens to be touristy/relaxation side with restaurants and often used for exercise.  It looks bad.

Another related thing is the slowly increasing size of the ad-hoc dump on the top of “Ramos-Horta hill” (as it is often called).  Right at the top of this hill (which has sweeping views of the seaside below) is a small area which is used to dump rubbish.  It is at the top of a natural drainage path, which in heavy rain probably runs like a torrent.

This drain empties into the bay area occupied by Caz Bar, Sol e Mar and as it looks right now, one or two more new establishments in the making.  This is probably the most heavily utilised relaxation spot in Dili.  This area is also behind a reef which at low tide extends a long way out, so any “pollution” entering this area, has a bit of a struggle getting flushed out.

It is my guess that if this situation is left too long, horrible nasties will eventually leach out of this dump into the natural drain and end up in this nice touristy recreation area.  And as it is behind the reef, the nasties will more than likely settle in the area behind the reef.

This situation applies on the Dili side of “Ramos-Horta hill”.  But on the other side, the amount of urban rubbish being dumped is steadily increasing.  Maybe I am too sensitive, but it is becoming a disgrace.  Piles of rubbish dumped on the once pristine areas of the foreshore.  Try to find a clean spot to park near the water amongst the trees and you are more than likely going to find a pile of bottles or cans etc.  Fortunately, the dogs and pigs have snaffled out all the usable organic matter before it arrives on the beach.

Some of the used bottles do get recycled as containers for fuel, tua, and honey.  However, it is a pity that there is no noticeable domestic waste recycling industry here because if there was a return for all the empty glass bottles, plastic bottles and cans, I am sure there are plenty of people who will clear it up.