East Timor Press Review

Monday 8 July 2002

· The Timor post ran a front page story on Saturday’s meeting in Batugade between government representatives and a refugee group headed by João Tavares at which the refugees called for the creation of transit centers in each district for former pro-Indonesian supporters.

· The government is reportedly under pressure to dismantle a youth group in Bobonaro district called Kolimau 2000 because the group’s members are ordering schools to close down and preventing churchgoers from attending mass.

· A traditional healer, Antonio de Araujo Cortereal, says the eucalyptus tree needs to be protected because it is useful for medicinal purposes.

· A health clinic in Becora has reportedly treated more than 50 cases of malaria in the past month.

· Roads around East Timor have reportedly been damaged due to heavy load vehicles.

· In an editorial the Timor Post says that street children are victims of economic problems at home and that the government must do something to combat the problem.

· A group of youth in Letefoho, Ermera district, has sent a letter requesting the Minister of Education to allow them to voluntarily teach a group of students whose teacher is currently in jail for beating up a pupil.

· Suara Timor Lorosae, STL, also ran a front page story on the Batugade meeting between government representatives and Tavares. MP Jacob Fernandes, who attended the meeting, said it had been conducted in a very positive atmosphere and that the agenda for next meeting will focus on human rights abuses and serious crimes committed in East Timor in 1999.

· STL reported that Special Representative of the Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma paid a visit to the Commission of Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) office in Dili and stressed that it is one of the most important institutions in East Timor and has the support of the United Nations.

· Comoro market is reportedly strewn with rubbish and is beginning to smell badly.

· Hotels in the capital have reportedly slashed their prices by half and restaurants are claiming a 50% drop in business since many UN personnel left the country.

· Meat vendors in the capital say local beef sales are threatened because of imported meat.

· Economics students at Dili University say they are finding it very difficult to learn the Portuguese language.

· The owner of a photographic studio in Dili said he had to spend over $800 dollars to set up his business but is now earning some US$250 a day because there is not much in the way of competition. Separately, vendors at Becora market are reportedly selling their goods outside the area stipulated by the municipality. This is causing traffic problems.

· STL reports that militias are not training to attack East Timor.

· STL ran a story on the UNDP’s statement, issued Friday, that quoted UNDP Representative Phillips Young as saying that East Timor still has time to prevent a major HIV/AIDS epidemic.

[Drafted by: Ceu Brites UNMISET Spokesperson’s office]

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