| Subject: SMH/E
Timor/Comment: Great expectations as rebuilding begins
Sydney Morning Herald Friday, December
24, 1999
Great expectations as rebuilding begins
COMMENT by JAMES DUNN
It is hard to imagine the citizens of
Dili celebrating Christmas amid the devastation of their city. Although
the capital was already ablaze when I was evacuated last September, the
extent of its destruction still shocked me earlier this month.
But today it is a safe and relaxed place,
thanks to Interfet. In this atmosphere the Timorese are now turning their
minds to the task of building a new nation, Timor Lorosae.
This time I again stayed with Timorese
friends who last September were forced at gunpoint to go to Kupang, from
where they had not long returned. It was an ordeal, but they now insist it
was worth it, for at last the Timorese are free.
Their aspirations have been boosted by
the international response, especially in terms of aid. And now that the
World Bank has come up with its $750 million reconstruction package, a
mood of optimism is in the air. For the Timorese the year ahead is truly
one of great expectations.
The way ahead will not, however, be easy,
and their patience will sorely be tested. This is especially true of Dili,
where almost 100,000 people have returned to face the rigours of the wet
season in primitive conditions.
While aid agencies have done a lot to
provide food and medical services, when it comes to housing
reconstruction, the Timorese have so far been treated to little more than
rhetoric. The telephone system is still being repaired and there is no
post office. Citizens are thereby deprived of the social side of Christmas
- the reunion of friends and relatives.
There is not even a hardware store whose
wares are so desperately needed for simple repairs.
The vacuum in government is also causing
a certain restlessness, especially among the younger generation. The
euphoria accompanying the liberation has passed, but the new order has yet
to take shape.
The Transitional Authority (UNTAET),
under its energetic leader, Dr Sergio Vieira de Mello, has taken over from
Unamet, but most of his staff will not be in place until the end of
January.
As for the physical reconstruction of
Dili, that will not begin in earnest until well into next year. Apparently
the first large consignment of building materials will not arrive before
March.
The best-known leaders, Mr Xanana Gusmao
and Mr Jose Ramos Horta, have been active since their recent return, but
understandably are not yet in a position to ease the pain suffered by most
of their people.
With electricity services now restored to
most of Dili's population, and with many houses crudely patched up, the
pulse of life in the capital has quickened. In this gap between the
appearance of UNTAET and the visible implementation of its policies,
impatience for material progress, especially among the younger, educated
Timorese, is increasingly noticeable.
The situation is not helped by young
people enduring enforced idleness in a city where most social institutions
have been destroyed or badly damaged.
Timor no longer has a library, even in
its University..
While the presence of the UN's Transition
Authority is generally welcomed, most educated Timorese are increasingly
looking to their own national leadership, something Dr Vieira de Mello
himself is encouraging.
Since their return, Mr Gusmao and Mr
Ramos Horta have been visiting principal centres of the territory and
meeting Timorese who had served as officials under Indonesia. These will
help form the nucleus of the new public service, under UN administrators,
but they have yet to return to work.
Because most senior positions were
occupied by Indonesians, trained senior administrators are in short
supply.
There is also a serious shortage of
professional staff, such as engineers and doctors (there are apparently
only 10 qualified Timorese doctors).
Some help will come from qualified
Timorese living in Australia and Portugal, but the need for outside
professional help will continue well beyond independence, which National
Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) leaders are now keen to bring
forward.
Dr Vieira de Mello has moved quickly to
construct an interim government with extensive Timorese involvement. In
UNTAET's first two regulations a National Consultative Council has been
established, with prescribed high standards of behaviour. The first
regulation set out the powers and authority of the interim administration,
at the same time obliging all public office holders to observe
international human rights standards.
The second regulation establishes the
National Consultative Council "to advise the transitional
administrator". The NCC has 15 seats, with the CNRT to hold seven of
them.
The stipulation that the council's
membership "shall broadly reflect the results of the popular
consultation" should ensure CNRT's dominance.
But the coalition is a loose one, and its
unity and the resilience of its leaders will be put to the test in the
months ahead.
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