AFP expertise sought in effort to rebuild East Timor

May 27, 2004 2:28am Asia Intelligence Wire

The man tasked with assisting in the rebuilding efforts of Dili, East Timor, visited Canberra yesterday for some ideas from our local police.

Dili district administrator Ruben De Carvalho toured AFP community policing facilities as part of his visit as a guest of the ACT Government.

Describing himself as the equivalent of a mayor, Mr De Carvalho said that after watching children cycle around the Children's Traffic Demonstration Centre at Belconnen, he was armed with ideas for his return home.

'I think that after this visit I see so many things that maybe we need to provide to our police in East Timor,' Mr De Carvalho said.

'[The Children's Traffic Demonstration Centre] is one of the facilities that is very interesting for me because here in this area now you introduce the basic information, safety and traffic rules to kids and the most important thing is the positive interaction between the kids and the police.

'As the administrator of Dili District one of our responsibilities is to create a good relationship between the police and the community because police can not do the job alone - they have to have the support from the community to provide security to ensure stability.

'With this experience that I've got here I may make a suggestion to create one of the spaces like this in Dili.' A police spokeswoman said the tour of the facilities was to complement the AFP's existing partnership with East Timor which began with the participation of AFP officers in the United Nations Police Force in East Timor.

She said AFP officers, including local police, were also training members of the new East Timor police force to deliver community policing programs as part of a four- year, $40million initiative to provide training and management for East Timor's national police force.

The Dili District Administration is responsible for about a quarter of East Timor's total population and has responsibility for power, water and other major infrastructure, as well as the maintenance of law and order.

Mr De Carvalho also toured City Police Station, Winchester Police Centre and Yarralumla Water Police.

Copyright © 2004 The Federal Capital Press of Australia Pty Limited. Source: Financial Times Information Limited.

Back to May menu
April
World Leaders Contact List
Human Rights Violations in East Timor
Main Postings Menu