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This year, most East Timorese have something to celebrate

Source
Sydney Morning Herald - December 22, 2000

Mark Dodd, Dili – Christmas brings out the best in the East Timorese. Last year, despite the misery and destruction inflicted by the militia and their Indonesian army backers, even the poorest shanty town dwellers could scrounge enough material to build a nativity scene.

Some were made of grass and cardboard scraps; others were more elaborate, with long-hoarded decorations. At night the candle-lit roadside shrines testified to the people's faith.

Throughout Dili, youngsters and adults are again building nativity scenes. But this year they have a lot more to be happy about.

There have been notable achievements by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), UN sister agencies and the dozens of non-government organisations that are helping rebuild the shattered nation.

Most of the estimated 750,000 people will have a roof over their heads by the onset of the rains. For town dwellers, electricity has been restored and, despite a monthly fuel bill of $US600,000, power is still free. Rural people, however, will be relying on kerosene and candles for years to come.

The World Food Program reports few instances of food shortages, with most farmers having been able to plant their crops this year.

The public water supply in Dili is being renovated, and throughout East Timor millions of dollars are being spent on roadworks in preparation for the monsoon.

Despite complaints about corrupt recruitment procedures for teachers and delays in salary payment, schools are reopening and students are filling classrooms as quickly as UN contractors can build them.

Basic public health services are also being slowly restored, with construction about to start on a $US1.4 million medical stores warehouse in Dili.

Dressed in smart blue uniforms, the first East Timorese police graduates are working alongside their UN counterparts, restoring a level of national pride in a service once known for corruption and rights abuses.

Meanwhile, in Aileu, the long-forgotten veterans of the independence struggle – 1,000 armed Falintil fighters – are being offered the choice of joining the new East Timor Defence Force or taking a World Bank-funded voluntary redundancy package. Australia will help train the new defence force.

Despite a shortage of skilled administrators, an East Timorese public service is being recruited and trained, while a multi-million-dollar building program is under way to restore public offices torched and looted by the retreating Indonesians.

Across East Timor, the security situation is for the most part stable. Pro-Jakarta militia violence is falling due to tough new rules of engagement for the 7,700 UN peacekeepers. Better co-ordination and tactics by Australian and New Zealand peacekeepers who supervise border security have also helped keep the peace, although two blue berets have been killed in actions involving the militia.

Thousands of East Timorese refugees have returned to rebuild their lives, although 80,000 to 100,000 will be spending another Christmas in squalid militia-controlled camps in Indonesian West Timor.

Those responsible for last year's violence can take little satisfaction. A UN-administered court in Dili in January will hear the first war crimes charges against 11 militia, including nine in UN detention. The courts need to get a move on. A visit by a high-ranking UN Security Council delegation last month was critical of UNTAET's slow pace in getting trials started. The UN's chief administrator in East Timor, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, said someone forgot to organise a budget for the courts.

The delivery of justice is a controversial subject. The independence leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, believes in a more traditional form of community-based reconciliation. Harsh prison sentences for militia leaders will only make it more difficult to bring back the remaining refugees, he said last week.

The former guerilla commander has been fighting on two fronts recently. He is upset with the level of consultation between UNTAET and the East Timorese Transitional Cabinet on a timetable for independence, particularly UNTAET's insistence that pro-autonomy parties be included in next year's election.

At the same time he has faced growing internal dissent. The recent antics of a breakaway political party, RDTL (Democratic Republic of East Timor), has spilt over into violent clashes with Fretilin, the party of which he is a former founding member. Mr Gusmao has questioned the political credentials of RDTL leaders, saying they are funded by pro-autonomy groups.

The invasion by hundreds of expatriates, most on lucrative short-term UN contracts, has led to a parallel economy and growing resentment of foreigners, a situation exacerbated by widespread youth unemployment. Bars, restaurants and supermarkets are sprouting in Dili, but most customers wear blue UN caps.

While relations between Dili and Jakarta remain frayed over Indonesia's stance on refugees and its refusal to extradite militia leaders, relations with Canberra are also coming under strain over a renegotiated Timor Gap treaty.

At issue is ownership of the oil-and gas-rich Timor Sea between the two countries. Talks are continuing to put a new treaty in place by independence day to replace a highly contentious 1989 agreement signed with Indonesia after Canberra's accepted the 1975 invasion of East Timor.

UNTAET wants the current 50-50 share increased to about 90-10 in East Timor's favour. UNTAET's political chief, Mr Peter Galbraith, estimates East Timor could be earning $US150 million a year in five years, based on current oil prices, if Canberra agrees to terms.

The negotiations are seen as a test of Canberra's support for the fledgling nation, because a good outcome would mean near economic self-sufficiency. What a lovely Christmas present.

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