RE: Greater Sunrise4 Oct 2024 09:57
“Nobody is going to invest in a country where there is no continuity of policy,"
Yet the government's decision to suspend the May delivery of two patrol boats and cancel a DFAT-supported cash payments program for mothers to counter high rates of child malnutrition, sent shockwaves through the embassy and the development community. The Guardian patrol boats were part of a 2017 agreement struck with the previous Fretilin-led government that included maritime training for Timorese naval personnel and Australian assistance to upgrade Dili's Hera port. Timorese navy commanders are said to be fuming given their lack of capacity to prevent illegal fishing inside their waters.
The government insists it is simply reviewing the suitability of projects. Fretilin chairman and former prime minister Mari Alkatiri told The Australian the project cancellations - along with a decision to to scrap low-cost World Bank and Asian Development Bank loans for water, health and education projects - would scare investors, and that walking away from Timor's Greater Sunrise partners "would be the biggest disaster". Nobody is going to invest in a country where there is no continuity of policy,"