Tensions are rising as the rebuilding of East Timor begins, Conor O'Clery writes from Dili.
After quelling the recent disturbance in Dili by 7,000 disappointed and desperate East Timorese job-seekers hoping to find work with the United Nations, Mr Jose Ramos Horta told them: "Remember, Portugal was here for 500 years and what did Portugal leave behind? Indonesia was here for 24 years and destroyed every single thing.
"UNTAET [the UN transitional administration] and CNRT [the National Timorese Resistance Council] have received this legacy just three months ago. Don't expect miracles."
But miracles might be needed in the East Timorese capital, where 80 percent of the population is without visible means of support.
The rising tensions topped the agenda at a recent CNRT congress. Under the leadership of Mr Xanana Gusmao, the CNRT is trying to transform itself from a clandestine organisation into a government-in-waiting.
Mr Gusmao's days are filled with meetings and he is exhausted, friends say. On the streets people express disappointment that he is rarely seen, and that he lectures rather than talks to them.
"There is no communication between the leaders and the people and the UN and the people," Mr Francisco Dionisio, a student leader, said.
"Our real task," said a CNRT aide, "is to build institutions around the leaders so that they don't have to do everything and have time for reflection."
Mr Gusmao and Mr Joao Carrascalao did the talking for the CNRT at a recent meeting of the National Consultative Council, a joint UN-Timorese body chaired by Dr Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian head of UNTAET. The main issue was the low wages paid to East Timorese workers, a big source of discontent.
A four-day strike last week stopped all deliveries by the World Food Program. Workers employed by the International Organisation for Migration damaged vehicles in a protest and brandished machetes at two aid workers.
East Timor is a "bed of roses" compared to Kosovo, said Mr David Harland, a senior UNTAET official, but "social tensions will almost certainly get worse as major employment projects will not kick in for several months". UNTAET hopes to introduce "quick impact" programs next week, said Dr Vieira de Mello, who feared "an obvious increase in the expectation and frustration of the local population with a rise in criminality and possible social unrest".
After the National Consultative Council meeting, he announced a five-tier "stipend", pending full-time appointments to an East Timor civil service, ranging from the equivalent of $115 a month for unskilled workers to $475 for heads of departments.
Angry youths hang around Dili transit centre to identify returning militia members who had helped burn the capital. Three militia families have been hidden by the UN in safe houses after being attacked, Mr Paul Stromberg, of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said.
Crime has also increased, and a woman UN official was sexually assaulted in her house. "Law and order is a priority," said a Dublin lawyer, Mr John Ryan, a UN administrator who is setting up a judicial system.
Dili has two youth gangs, the Firaco on the east side and the Kaladi on the west. Before liberation, Indonesian repression and a night curfew kept rivalry in check. Now the youths chase around on motorcycles. "What city in the world doesn't have gang fights?" a UN worker said. "You could even call it normal. But if there's no work soon, it could get out of hand." – The Irish Times.