DILI, march 21, 2023 (TATOLI)– Secretary of State for Environmental Protection (SEA), Demétrio Amaral Do Carvalho signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Eco Security and Emission Asset Management Company, Paul Fernandez to provide more than 200,000 jumbo cookstoves for distribution to households across Timor-Leste.
At the signing of the agreement, Carvalho said, SEA is cooperating with the private sector to provide jumbo cookstoves, aiming to reduce the use of firewood for cooking.
“We understand that more than 98% of Timorese households use firewood, and only around 10,000 households are using gas or electricity, therefore the agreement signed today between the Secretary of State for the Environment and the CEO of Eco Security company will provide over 200,000 jumbo cookstoves for 300,000 households in the national territory,” Carvalho told reporters at the SEA office, Mandarin, this Tuesday.
Carvalho emphasized that the jumbo cookstove can reduce the use of firewood for cooking by 60%:” Therefore If all the households use the jumbo cookstove, it will help reduce the illegal logging of trees,” he said.
The CEO of Eco Security Company, Paul Fernandez said, the eco security company partnered with the Timor-Leste government to provide support including the cookstoves.
“We will make a concerted effort to bring international capital to Timor-Leste to help local communities use the jumbo cookstoves which help reduce firewood,” he explained.
He added that the company is expected to procure more than 200,000 cookstoves, following the government data presented, which shows that Timor-Leste has more than 300,000 households.
The procurement of the jumbo stove was carried out by mobilizing capital funds from international companies such as Eco Company and Emission Assets worth more than 20 million USD.
“Cooking stoves were purchased from India and African countries,”
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Nelia B.
