[The following is a sidebar from the Red Cross 2001 World Disasters Report. The writer is a medical doctor who has worked in Afghanistan and East Timor.]

Kies Rietveld – At half past six, the sun is shining. Children shout, "Hello Mistar" on my morning run. Most suburban houses still lie in blackened ruins. No repairs are going on. The UN has levied a 10 per cent tax on timber for roofing beams. Aid agencies are exempt. Private repairs are not encouraged. It's cheaper to wait and let a foreign organization do it for free.

I arrive at the sea. In the bay waits a ship. It has been there for some weeks. On board are things normal people need, like soap, to be sold in the shops. But the ship has to wait. All harbours except Dili are closed. Supplies for the 10,000 peace keepers, UN officials and humanitarians have priority.

Back at my hotel (a bunch of containers in a car park), I listen to the Australian owner negotiating over a huge fish. The local fisherman wants twelve dollars. The owner pays him six Australian dollars. Fish-steaks will be sold over lunch at AS$ 12 a piece. Forty steaks could come out of this fish.

That night on the way home from work, I pass a ship the size of an oil tanker, dwarfing the palm trees. It is the UN hotel. International staff serve, manage and cook. Food comes from Singapore and Australia. It serves 600 guests, paying AS$ 150 a night. Not a cent gets into the local economy.

That is, if you exclude the shy girls, sitting next to aid workers in their four-wheel drive cars. They aren't imported from elsewhere. They're cheaper here.