Episode 4: (Old) Office of Manatuto’s Regent, Laclubar Subdistrict
Old Office of Manatuto’s Regent
Laclubar Subdistrict, Manatuto
When entering Laclubar, I was greeted by a hilly landscape with houses shyly perched on it. They are of varying conditions. Some are perfectly habitable, while some others are in a state of sculpturally ruinous. Among them is a place that once functioned as the office for the District of Manatuto’s ex Regents.
It wasn’t easy finding someone who can tell me the history of this area, let alone this building. The people here don’t seem to know about it. But my search bore its fruit when I met Mr. Joao Maria De Cristo Rei*. We were able to stop for a moment and talked a little bit about this building which -by now seems to be a common occurrence- has a strong tie to the rocky history of the area and the general conflicts in Timor Leste. The building, in a nutshell, is a story of historical witness that was rehabilitated more often than it was good for.
