Berloi Waterfall

The Berloi Waterfall is a small waterfall in the municipality of Aileu, Timor-Leste. It forms part of a minor tributary of the Comoro River.

Geography

The waterfall is located within the suco of Fatisi and the Laulara administrative post in the Aileu municipality, a short distance from Dili, the capital city. The stream that passes over the waterfall is sometimes referred to as the Berloi River or the Berloi-Fatisi River, and is a minor tributary of the Comoro River.
From the base of the waterfall, the stream flows initially in a southwesterly direction for a short distance. It then turns northwest to mark the border between the municipalities of Aileu and Ermera for about, until it flows into the Comoro River about downstream of the village of.

History

On 19 August 1975, during the East Timorese Civil War, a member of Unetim, the Fretilin youth wing, killed a man who was being detained by Fretilin at the detention centre in Unmenlau, in the then sub-district of Laulara. His body was thrown into the stream near the waterfall. The following day, 20 August 1975, a group of eight men, who were being detained by Fretilin in Fatisi on suspicion of being spies for the Timorese Democratic Union, were taken outside. Five of them were killed at the stream, and the remaining three were killed near Fatisi.

Ecology

The waterfall is a habitat, and has been a site for observation and recording, of both rare and abundant species of dragonfly.