Timor-Leste's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri paid a visit recently to a USAID-supported boat-building project in Vemasse, Baucau District, east of Dili. Project members showed Dr. Alkatiri around their factory and launched one of their boats for the occasion.

Organisasi Pemuda Teknik Profesional (OPTP) employs eight young men from the Vemasse subdistrict who work six days a week in the factory. With USAID's support and additional funds from Columbia University's Conflict Resolution Center, they have completed three fiberglass fishing boats already and plan to build another seven. The project helps them hone their skills in working with fiberglass, carpentry, and welding. By supporting the project, USAID is helping to reestablish these skills in the Vemasse fishing community, where local fishing cooperatives use the new boats. In exchange for supplying the boats, OPTP will share in a percentage of the cooperatives' profits, providing the factory with a sustainable income in the future.

USAID's grant of $16,900 supports OPTP through the middle of October 2003. It strengthens the Vemasse fishing community's economic prospects and expands its skills base. The fishing cooperatives using OPTP's three completed boats already report an increase in their catches. They took the opportunity of Dr. Alkatiri's visit to press him for help in improving their market facilities in Vemasse and providing better access to the much bigger market in Dili to sell their surplus fish. Dr. Alkatiri thanked USAID for its support and agreed to inform the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest, and Fisheries of the need for better market facilities and transport.