Bronwyn Curran, Dili – The flags of the world are fluttering above a frenzy of roof-fixing, painting and construction as East Timor's waterfront capital spruces up to welcome VIPs from 92 countries, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and exUS president Bill Clinton, for its giant May 19 independence party.
The flags of the 189 member states of the United Nations have been hoisted in front of the white arched facade of Dili's seaside government headquarters.
Beneath, Portuguese peacekeepers part of the downsized UN force of 5,000 are erecting stages on which the nascent state's first government will be sworn in on May 20.
Next door, workmen clamber over the roofs of one of the dozens of newly revived buildings, putting the final tiles on what will be the first national cultural centre.
The city's neglected parks are also getting a manicure. Australian soldiers have been painting the walls of a park where Annan and other top VIPs will be hosted to a sunset dinner reception before the midnight independence declaration.
Frangipani trees have been planted around its perimeter, in front of the Dili bishop's residence where Annan will attend its dedication as the International People's Park.
Annan, Clinton, President Jorge Sampaio of former colonial ruler Portugal, President Megawati Sukarnoputri of former occupier Indonesia and Australian Prime Minister John Howard are the top names among delegates from 92 nations flying in for the Sunday night-into-Monday ceremonies.
Normally sleepy Dili is swelling with the influx of international dignitaries and 300 foreign journalists. Hotels and flights into the city have been booked out for weeks.
Children beating drums and boys in traditional feathered headdresses in rehearsal for the ceremonies roam the increasingly choked but freshly paved streets.
Teams of Australian police close protection specialists flown in to provide the VIP security have been surveying the city. Foreign intelligence services have been assisting in security preparations, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta told AFP.
Ex-commanders of the former Falantil independence guerrillas have also been enlisted to ensure security, said the head of the embryonic East Timor Defense Force (ETDF), Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak. "The ETDF won't be involved in security, we'll be in the show," Ruak said.
The "show" is a gala sevenhour program of religious, cultural, and symbolic ceremonies that will take place around one of three saltwater lakes at Taci Tolu ("three seas") on the edge of Dili on the night of May 19.
Some 3,000 schoolchildren will perform traditional dances and music from each of the 13 districts in the leadup to the independence declaration.
Australian artistic director Ignatius Jones has been preparing the show for months. "It will be a very Timorese performance," Jones said. The only nonindigenous performer will be US soprano Barbara Hendricks, who will sing "O Freedom" as the United Nations flag is lowered in the final minutes before midnight.
Annan will hand over authority to parliament speaker Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres before the UN flag goes down. At midnight Guterres will declare East Timor independent and the new flag will be raised. Guterres will then swear in former rebel commander and independence hero Xanana Gusmao as the first elected president.
A 35 minute display of fireworks, donated by China and Thailand, will follow. Other countries and the UN are also helping foot the $US1.7 million bill for the independence celebrations.
Organisers are expecting 100,000 East Timorese to turn out for the ceremonies but are preparing for 200,000 nearly a third of the population. Simultaneous handover and flag-raising ceremonies will be held in each of the 13 district centres. "We never ever dreamed of independence like this," said former clandestine independence activist Antonio Araujo, surveying the preparations.
"We thought there would just be death, death and more death, that we would keep on dying for our freedom. Now it's like a huge brilliant sun has risen, after so long in the darkness."