Dili – In the first serious protest against the UN administration running East Timor, some 200 unemployed laborers demonstrated Wednesday against the use of Indonesian workers by companies contracted by the world body.

The rally was organized by a coalition of socialist groups angered by the influx of foreign construction workers, who are building several large helicopter landing pads at Dili airport.

"Anyone with an inch of intelligence would not make such a policy decision. It's a bit like asking Iraqi workers to build a helipad in Kuwait, or asking a Serbian company to go to Kosovo to build a helipad there," said Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, who did not take part in the peaceful but noisy protest.

Although there are no unemployment statistics in the region, it is believed to stand at close to 100 percent.

The Indonesian workers were brought in by an international firm contracted by international peacekeepers to build the urgently needed helipads. Military officers justified the move by insisting there were no local workers with the appropriate specialized engineering skills.

UN officials declined to comment on whether they would continue to use the Indonesian workers.

"There are many problems. Unemployment, I'm afraid, is first and foremost," said Sergio Vieira de Mello, who heads the UN transitional authority.

He said that some of the $520 million pledged by donor countries at a conference in Tokyo last month will be used to reduce unemployment by providing jobs on reconstruction projects. Demonstrators also called for the United Nations to control market prices, set a minimum wage for workers and improve the distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout the nation.