Good morning. I am happy to be here with all of you today to re-open the upgraded Sidara Health Clinic in Hera Suco. I would like to thank the Ministry of Health, the U.S. Seabees, the U.S. Marines, and the Australian Defense Force for their collaboration in this effort.
Working together, we’ve made necessary repairs to the clinic: demolishing the existing roof; correcting the water supply and drainage piping; and building a new block head facility. These improvements will directly enhance the clinic’s capacity to serve the members of the local community.
The clinic is one of many projects completed during HARI’I HAMUTUK 2017. This annual exercise between the U.S., Australian, Japanese, and F-FDTL forces represents the close friendship between our countries. This clinic, as well as projects completed in Metinaro and Baucau, also demonstrates our strong support for the development of the F-FDTL’s engineering capacity. We hope to develop more projects like this in the future, which benefit both the Timorese and the American people.
Congratulations to all of our partners and friends. Thank you very much.