UNTAET and Falintil have decided to increase from 10 to 67 the number of Falintil liaison officers in the Peacekeeping Force, enabling Falintil participation at a lower level.
The decision was made in a meeting over the weekend between SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, Force Commander Lt. Gen. Boonsrang Niumpradit and CNRT President Xanana Gusmão.
Like the ones currently deployed, the new Falintil liaison officers will assist in operational planning and will be serving as an integral part of the PKF headquarters in Dili, sector headquarters and battalion headquarters, in all districts with the exception of Oecussi.
The liaison officers, also to be used as guides and interpreters with patrols, will be armed and receive training in PKF rules of engagement.
There is currently one liaison officer in PKF headquarters and three officers in each sector.
SUSPENSION OF MECHANIZED QUARRYING
Yesterday, SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello signed a suspension order to immediately cease the mechanized extraction of gravel, sand and other materials from the Comoro river basin in Dili.
The order went into effect on 2 September.
Experts have warned that the large-scale extraction of gravel in the Comoro river basin was endangering the environment and putting at risk the stability of surrounding infrastructure.
The East Timor Transitional Administration met today to discuss, among other things, how to access the resources in the basin and ways of regulating extraction. It was decided that CivPol will make sure that the activities cease.
ARCHIVES TO BE ESTABLISHED
More than 60 per cent of the documents deposited in the attic of the Administration building of the Governor’s Office has been selected and classified by a team of Timorese led by prominent Portuguese historian José Mattoso, former director of the Portuguese National Archives.
The team is following the most developed international principles of management, selection and elimination of documents.
They are keeping documents for permanent conservation, such as contracts, correspondence, decisions by authorities, accountant books, economical management, budgets and minutes of meetings.
The team is not keeping day-to-day working documents without historical significance.
NATIONAL COUNCIL NOMINATION PROCESS EXTENDED
The nomination period for the future National Council was extended by one week as of yesterday, 4 September. The people of East Timor will have until next Monday, 11 September, to exercise their right to nominate 20 of the 33 members of the National Council.
The National Council will replace the current National Consultative Council and will provide advise to the Transitional Administrator on all matters related to the exercise of the East Timor Transitional Administration.
SRSG REPRESENTS UNITED NATIONS AT OLYMPICS
The United Nations Secretary-General has designated the SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello to represent him at the opening of the Olympic Games in Sydney.
The United Nations flag will fly at the Olympics, a tradition introduced in 1996.
The International Organizing Committee of the Sydney Olympiad has also announced that two United Nations representatives will run in the Olympic Torch relay in the lead-up to the official opening on 15 September.
Four East Timorese athletes have been selected to compete as individuals under the Olympic flag: Martinho de Araujo, weight lifting; Victor Ramos, boxing; and Calisto da Costa and Aguida Amaral, both marathon runners.
FUN RUN RAISED MONEY FOR WIDOWS, ORPHANS
Last weekend’s “Fun Run” in Dili, arranged by the United Nations Civilian Police, attracted over 800 participants, 70 per cent East Timorese. The race raised a total of A$2,500; money that will be donated to projects for widows and orphans in East Timor.
Two races were arranged, one of five kilometers and the other of ten kilometers. A Peacekeeper from Kenya won the10 kilometers men’s race, while East Timorese runners won the women’s 10 kilometers and men’s five kilometers.
