Dili, April 17, 2025 (Média Democracia) – The Secretary of State for Social Communication (SEKOMS) signed an agreement with 19 community radios across the territory regarding the public transfer fund provided by the government through SEKOMS.
The Secretary of State for Social Communication, Expedito Loro Dias Ximenes, stated that the Constitutional Government continues to provide support to all 19 community radios spread across all municipalities.
“This year, two more community radios have been added one in Laklubar, Manatuto and another in Balibó, Bobonaro. Today, Balibó Community Radio has also signed a contract through a proposal that each community radio submitted, based on their respective priorities and urgencies,” said the Secretary of State to journalists at Maria Goreti Hall, SEI, on Tuesday (15/04/2025).
After the proposals were submitted to SEKOMS, the team conducted evaluations on the proposals from the community radios concerning their planned activities for the year.
“After the team conducted evaluations, including check, recheck, and crosscheck against the State General Budget, I approved them, and today we signed the contracts. The amounts are not uniform but based on each radio’s proposal some are $7,000, some $8,000, and others $6,000. These are for their self-management as part of the public transfer fund,” he explained.
He also mentioned that every year the Secretary of State for Social Communication provides support to community radios because these radios are created by the community and serve the community.
“That’s why I urge the managers to ensure the coverage and content of their activities go beyond just broadcasting ceremonial events. They should focus on covering agricultural activities, youth events, and other relevant local activities within municipalities, administrative posts, villages, and sub-villages,” he said.
He emphasized that the ideal coverage composition should be 60/40, 60% dedicated to agricultural and community development activities, and 40% to ceremonial events such as those involving municipal authorities, administrative post administrators, villages chiefs, and other local leadership structures.
For this year, the total amount allocated by the Secretary of State for Social Communication for community radios is $150,000, distributed based on the proposals submitted by the radios.
Through this public transfer fund, the allocation is strictly based on the proposals from each community radio. Therefore, when the funds are used for purchasing equipment or other expenses, SEKOMS’ team will conduct verification. If the funds are not used in accordance with the approved proposals, the radios will not be eligible for future public transfer funds.
The Secretary further stated that for the coming year, 2026, the Secretary of State for Social Communication will work together with the Ministry of State Administration to allocate additional funds for community radios, recognizing that these radios exist at the villages and hamlets levels, and that the Ministry of State Administration will also have the responsibility to monitor their management.
“Not only are we asking for support for community radios, but also for the villages information centers. We have 28 villages’ information centers across the municipalities, so we are asking the Ministry of State Administration to also allocate funds for monitoring the management of both community radios and villages’ information centers,” he added.
At the same time, the National Director of Information Dissemination (DNDI), Manuel Alves, explained that the agreement signing activity involves a total of 19 community radios, and in the future this number could increase to 21 as evaluations continue in the coming weeks.
“In terms of rules and implementation, we have already informed the community radios. Today we are signing the contracts with them and disbursing the funds so that they can manage according to the guidelines that the team established during last week’s evaluation,” said Manuel Alves.
Looking ahead, the National Directorate of Information Dissemination will continue to conduct joint evaluations with SEKOMS’ Finance Directorate, followed by small audits, usually within one or two months, as part of the ongoing monitoring process together with the directorate and finance teams from SEKOMS.
Reported by : Estefania
Photo by : Estefania