Dili, 5 April 2000
SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello today signed a instruction establishing District Advisory Councils in East Timor. These Councils will be established on a provisional basis pending the finalization of a Regulation for this purpose. The District Advisory Council is an advisory body set up for the purpose of representing the concerns of the population and of providing advice to the District Administrator in each district.
The establishment of these councils will provide a regular forum for exchanging views between UNTAET and district representatives and enable them to better learn the concerns of the population. The focus will be on the areas of development, law and order, improvement of infrastructure and agriculture, public services, humanitarian issues and the return of refugees, among others.
The District Councils will have three representatives of UNTAET, three of the CNRT, one for the local religious institutions, one representative of women s organizations one of the youth organizations and two others of the local community.
The Advisory Council will assist the District Administrator by providing inputs from the population regarding their concerns and needs, will advise the District Administrator on coordinating development strategies and programs and on threats to security or law and order, will assist in communicating national and district level policies to the population. It will also advise the District Administrator on its management and on matters pertaining to revenue and expenditure.
The proposal of the establishment of the District Advisory Councils on a provisional basis was submitted to the National Consultative Council (NCC) at its session of 4 April. Members of the Council expressed their support to the initiative as an important step towards involving East Timorese in the decision-making process at the district level.
SRSG BRIEFS PRESS ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN EAST TIMOR
SRSG Sergio Vieira De Mello gave a press briefing today in Dili. He briefed the international and East Timorese press on several issues including the participation of the Timorese in UNTAET, on projects related to reconstruction that are expected to generate jobs throughout East Timor, on the general situation of unemployment, on his recent trip to Indonesia, and on his next trip to Japan, China, Malaysia and Singapore.
Mr. De Mello talked about the importance of the first large-scale reconstruction program in East Timor. The Asian Development Bank project worth nearly US$30 million for roads, power and ports is expected to be signed this week.
He stressed that in the coming weeks there is going to be a dynamic transformation of UNTAET into a new East Timorese civil administration through the appointment of Timorese as deputies at the central and at the district level with decision making with executive authority. These deputies will have many international staff, many UNTAET staff under their authority . This appointment is expected to happen in the next weeks.
