For the first time, two militiamen were killed today by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Maliana district, some 10 kilometers from the border of West Timor, Indonesia.
The Australian battalion based in Maliana, 60 kilometers south-west of Dili, the capital, had been tracking militia activity based on information given by Timorese who live in the area since the day before.
Today, at 12.30 pm, the soldiers came across a group of four to five militia, approximately 5.5 kilometers north-east of Maliana. The group was armed with rifles and grenades.
In the incident, two militiamen were shot and killed. The others are still at large. No Peacekeeping soldiers were injured.
“This is very important because it indicates that the militia remain active. But also, it is the first time that we have succeeded in engaging such a group at short distance, and it is the first time militia die in the contact with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force,” SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello said today.
SRSG also said that this is not the result of any change in policy. “The rules of engagement are the same. I have simply requested that they be applied along the border without the slightest hesitation so as to prevent a reoccurrence of last week’s tragedy.”
“The Peacekeeping Force is not in East Timor with the purpose to kill people. What the Peacekeepers did today will hopefully send a signal across the border and make other militia think twice before they put other human lives in jeopardy,” Force Commander Lt. General Boonsrang Niumpradit said.
Both militiamen were wearing TNI uniforms and had ammunition on them.
FIRST PERMANENTLY HIRED CIVIL SERVANT
The first permanently hired Timorese civil servant, Liborio Pereira, 37, took his oath before the SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello in a ceremony today.
Liborio Pereira was selected on 20 July out of 32 applicants. The letter recommending his selection was signed by the SRSG yesterday.
Liborio Pereira is now responsible for the Secretary of the Public Service Commission, where he held a temporary position as a Senior Recruitment Officer of Governance and Public Administration prior to his new appointment.
“Liborio is a pioneer of the new public administration,” SRSG said. “I ask him, like all the Timorese we will be hiring in the next few weeks, that they will be an example and a model to the people of East Timor, demonstrating integrity, independence and spirit of sacrifice. You are thus symbolically bringing to and ending a phase in which the public service and incompetence and corruption were synonymous.”
By June 2001, the end of the current fiscal year, the East Timorese Administration is expected to have around 9,000 civil servants.
Today’s ceremony was held in the office of the Transitional Administrator and attended by the Acting Secretary of the Public Service Commission, the Head of the Central Recruitment Office, the Director of the Civil Service and Public Employment and other members of the Public Service Commission.
CABINET OF THE TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT
In today’s Cabinet meeting, the Transitional Administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello sworn in Ana Pessoa as the Cabinet member responsible for the Internal Administration.
The Cabinet agreed on a Cabinet Manual outlining procedures in order to facilitate its decision making. Additionally, the Cabinet adopted a Code of Conduct for all Cabinet members, pursuant to Regulation no. 2000/23. The Code of Conduct ensures accountability and transparency by Cabinet members in performing their public duties.
After consultation, it was agreed that East Timorese Cabinet members should be paid a monthly salary of US$2,000.
The Cabinet also discussed the Timor Gap, in particular, expected revenue from this.
In addition, the Cabinet agreed that the Central Payment Office (CPO) should prepare a draft investment policy for government resources and recommendations for a framework for the CPO.
WORKSHOP ON CAPACITY BUILDING
A workshop on capacity building in East Timor, attended by around 60 participants, was held at Governor’s Office in Dili today. The participants came from Jakarta and Dili-based diplomatic missions, relevant international organizations, other development partners and non-governmental organizations.
The purpose of the workshop was to provide an overview of on-going and planned capacity building activities by UNTAET and its development partners, present terms of reference and a work plan for a comprehensive training needs analysis, covering in particular the public sector. The first draft strategy for human resources development and institution building in East Timor was also presented.
UNTAET’s Chief of Staff, N. Parameswaran, welcomed the workshop participants, followed by opening remarks by CNRT Vice President José Ramos-Horta.
Ramos-Horta emphasized the importance of the human resources of a country. “It is obvious that there is no debate when we say that regardless of the size of a country, population or territory, regardless of its natural resources, more or less in doubt, the greatest asset, the greatest of a country is its own people,” he said.
SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello said that sharing political responsibility has been a major step in the advancement to self-government, but also added that capacity building is a great challenge to UNTAET’s mandate.
Other speakers at the workshop included Colin Stark of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, who gave an overview of on-going capacity building activities in East Timor, Cabinet member Fr. Filomeno Jacob, who spoke about higher education. Finn Reske Nielsen, also from UNDP, outlined a draft strategy for human resource development and institution building in East Timor.
The workshop was organized by UNTAET in collaboration with UNDP.
