Paulina Quintao – The decision by the government to use Indonesia bottled water at recent international events such as the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) conference, instead of a local product, has drawn criticism from community members.
Resident Almerio Afonso said the government should use such opportunities to support local businesses.
"The Secretary of State Filipe Nino Pereira said should love our local products, especially our fresh water," he said. "However, there was the Indonesian product Aqua in front of you at the CPLP conference."
Gota Fresh Water owner Nilton Telmo Gusmao dos Santos said local water brands had been used at some government functions in the past. "We are proud when our local products are used during events organized by the state," he said.
He said local companies could easily handle government contracts. The Gotta Fresh water factory has the capacity to produce 3000 bottles of fresh water per hour.
Dos Santos called on Timorese to support local businesses by using domestic products though he anticipated it would be difficult to change people's consumption habits.
"It takes time to change people's mentalities and to make them familiar with the products that are out there in the market and to have people accept them," he said.
Secretary of State for Industry and Co-operative Filipe Nino Pereira said he had sent a letter to the government imploring them to use local water from manufacturers including Bee Mor, TL Water, Gotta Fresh and H2O in future.
"In government run meetings, seminars and workshops they can use our domestic drinking water products," he said.
He said locally produced bottled water was safe and had been tested by the National Laboratory and had been certified safe by bodies including the World Health Organization and the governments of Indonesia and Singapore.
"The quality is guaranteed but our consumers here are used to drinking foreign water because they don't trust local products," he said.