ELECTORAL TEAM ARRIVES IN EAST TIMOR

The first members of the Electoral Affairs team, which will start the process of organizing the elections next year, have arrived in East Timor.

Nguyen-Huu Dong and Ray Kennedy have come from the Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of Political Affairs at the United Nations Headquarters and have extensive experience in the preparation of elections.

Dong, the head of the team, has been part of most United Nations Elections Observation Missions to date, including the popular consultation in East Timor last year. Ray was part of the teams that prepared the elections in Haiti, Guyana and Peru.

In the first phase, expected to be completed within six weeks, an electoral system and the education related to it will be developed.

The second phase is devoted to the registration of the population, and the third to the logistical preparation of the elections.

JUDGES ON STRIKE

UNTAET is negotiating with eleven judges and four public defenders currently on strike, demanding higher salaries and establishment of special allowances such as social security and overtime payment.

The judges demand that their salary be raised from the current US$361 to US$3,000 per month, from October. Prosecutors and Public Defenders demand a salary increase from the current US$266 to US$1,000 per month.

UNTAET sympathizes with the fact that the current salary is low, but has come to the conclusion that a salary increase is not sustainable, nor is it in the budget. UNTAET’s goal is to leave behind a sustainable administration for the future Government of East Timor. Raising local salaries to the suggested levels would be contra productive.

The Public Service Commission is considering the issue of social security and insurance for civil servants this year and is expected to produce a study of financial implications for future implementation. There is no budget for such benefits this year.

UNTAET’s positions is that occasional overtime for judges and prosecutors, currently more an exception than a rule, is inherent in these functions, not only in East Timor, but all over the world.

Between 31 August and 12 September, judges, prosecutors and public defenders wrote petitions to UNTAET, indicating that if they did not receive a positive reply in the near future, they would stop working. The strike started last Friday, 6 October. Fourteen judges, all the prosecutors and six public defenders have reported to work as usual.

WORKING GROUP ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS ESTABLISHED

UNTAET has created a Disaster Preparedness Working Group to develop short-term disaster preparedness for the coming wet season.

The Working Group will help establish a Civil Relief and Disaster Preparedness Unit to work under the Department of Police and Emergency Services.

Coordinated by UNTAET’s Environment Protection Unit of the East Timor Transitional Administration, the Working Group will bring together various UNTAET departments, the Peacekeeping Force, UN agencies and NGOs to help minimize possible impact of natural disasters and deal with emergency relief situations.

Especially vulnerable areas and mitigation measures will be identified by the District Administrations.

Communities will also be mobilized, carrying out work such as clearing of road side drains, strengthening of bridges and causeways, planting of fast growing grasses in the areas prone to erosion. UNTAET, UN agencies, PKF and various NGOs in East Timor are already involved in disaster preparedness. UNTAET’s Infrastructure Department and PKF are working together to prioritize engineering work, the Office of the Deputy SRSG has established a working group to prioritize road building and maintenance, and NGOs, such as World Vision, are involved in projects to prevent erosion and flooding.

EAST TIMOR TO COMPETE IN SYDNEY PARALYMPICS

Two East Timorese athletes have been selected to compete in the Paralympics in Sydney, 18-29 October. The team consists of two athletes, weightlifter Matias Lucas and runner Alcino Pereira. The Paralympic Games will be contested by 4,000 disabled athletes from 125 countries.

UNTAET BOOK ON EAST TIMOR TO BE DISTRIBUTE

D The first copies of “One Momentous Year” – UNTAET’s collection of anecdotes related to the East Timorese referendum and the reconstruction process – arrived yesterday in Dili from the printer.

Three to four thousand copies will arrive in the next coming days, to be distributed free of charge throughout the county to the population. The official launching of the book will take place at the Dili Museum on UN Day, 24 October.

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