Jakarta - East Timorese were suffering the affects of a prolonged drought, but claims that residents of the former Portuguese colony were facing "mass starvation" were false, the territory's Indonesian-appointed governor said on Wednesday.

"While acknowledging that food shortages exist in selected areas, the provincial government wishes to make it known that rumours of 'mass starvation' are completely untrue and bear no semblance whatsoever to the situation on the ground," Governor Abilio Soares said in a statement.

East Timor was suffering drought due to the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon like much of the eastern areas of the Indonesian archipelago, Soares said.

"The government is dealing with this problem with the seriousness it deserves, nonetheless it is imperative that the problem be put in proper perspective. Despite lower crop yields, it has not come close to what has been described as mass starvation," he said.

Soares said of the almost 55,000 hectares of corn fields, around 10,000 hectares had been affected by prolonged drought.

The government was providing food assistance to those worst hit as well as agricultural equipment and seeds, and also was encouraging communities to make use of alternative resources such as fisheries.

"The food stocks in the provincial, not to mention the national reserves, are more than sufficient to meet the problem," Soares said.

"The provincial government is also taking relevant measures to ensure the price stability of the nine basic commodities; all regents in East Timor have been instructed to submit a weekly report on food prices in their respective areas," he said.

Timorese exile leader Jose Ramos Horta, who in 1996 shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Timorese bishop Carlos Belo, said last week East Timor was close to "explosion" because in part of the food shortages and the affects of the Asian economic crisis. Australian-based activists also said last week 85 villagers had died from starvation and the price of basic commodities had risen by 500 percent because of the drought.

Soares dismissed Ramos-Horta's claims. "It can only be concluded that Ramos-Horta's propagation of mass starvation in East Timor is nothing more than a self-serving act of reckless propaganda unworthy of a Nobel Peace laureate," Soares said.