Went to West Timor last week for a site visit. I’m too ignorant, I thought the island is far under developing and people are still living mostly in thatched huts … Utterly wrong. The capital Kupang and other big towns were quite well established. Asphalt roads, relatively clean, all basic infrastructures are available. No shorts of hotels and restaurants. At countryside the population density is low. Majority is embracing Christianity.
The weather is dry, the land is semi arid like savannah. It is hot in the daytime but temperature drops at least 10 Celcius at night in higher altitude places like Kefamenanu. Agricultural products were scarce in the dry season.
I was told plenty of NGOs station in Kupang providing assistance such as medical and foods to the locals, but not in regular basis. The local economy is picking up since manganese mining activities kicked off 2 years ago.
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| Index of development in a city. |
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| Semi arid land. Greens will sprout in the rainy season. |
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| Traditional architecture. |
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| Kupang town view, on the coast but very hot. |
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| Face of local people. Our driver Yanto. |
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| Sweet young coconut costs Rp.4000 (USD 0.45). |
