Dili, 19 May 2000
Eighty-three people are confirmed dead, after intense flooding in Betun region, Belu district, in south-eastern West Timor. Of the victims, the majority were East Timorese refugees, mostly women and children. Heavy rains continued unabated today when two UN helicopters made the first reconnaissance flight.
As of this evening, 21,000 people are estimated to have been displaced, of whom 16,000 were from 21 camps in the area. The sub-district of Malaka Tengah and Malaka Barat are the most badly affected. A rough estimate indicates that some 300 sq. km of West Timor have been flooded.
Fifty-three died in Malaka Tengah, 28 in Malaka Barat, and two in the Kefamenanu area. According to UN agencies operating on the ground, at least 80 people are reported missing.
According to UNHCR, the floods are the worst reported in West Timor in 22 years.
Today, 2,435 more people were moved from low-lying areas to higher grounds. A total of nearly 4,000 people have been evacuated during the last 48 hours.
UNHCR aerial reconnaissance estimates that 10% to 15% of the houses in the areas have been destroyed and a further 25% were damaged. However, UNHCR in Betun has reported that there is no need for non-food items in the next 24 hours.
Today, five World Food Program trucks with 20,000 full-day rations and one truck with fuel left in the morning from Dili. They are scheduled to arrive in Betun tonight.
One WFP helicopter has also airlifted three-and-a-half tonnes to the affected area, and ten International Organization of Migrations trucks left in the morning with plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, cooking utensils and other items.
ICRC has supplies of food in the area (rice, oil, etc), and WFP has about 40 tonnes of fish in storage in Suai which can be transported over the border should the need arise. Medecins Sans Frontieres and UNICEF have medical teams in the area.
The Peacekeeping Force helicopters (one Puma and one MI8) stayed overnight in Suai and will return to Betun early in the morning.
In East Timor, Suai and Los Palos districts remain isolated. However, access to Viqueque was restored today through a by-pass road. Power was cut down to 18 hours a day in order to ration fuel.
UN AGENCY HOUSE OPENS
Tomorrow the UN Agency House will officially open its doors in Dili. Eight United Nations agencies including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) will take up residence there.
The UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Finn Reske Nielsen, will head the UN Agency House as the UN Development Coordinator.
The role of the UN Agency House will be to facilitate the activities of the eight UN Agencies under its roof. The goal, as with the many UN houses around the world, is to encourage greater inter-agency cooperation and to eliminate wasteful overlap.
The opening activities will be officiated Nielsen, along with SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, CNRT President Xanana Gusmão, and UNDP Associate Administrator and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Zephirin Diabre, who will be here from New York especially for the opening. There will be a total of 120 guests comprised of East Timorese and UN representatives.
The program will start with speeches by the Transitional Administrator, Gusmão, Diabre, and Nielsen. East Timorese children will sing a song of welcome, followed by the unveiling of the UN Agency House plaque.
The opening of the UN Agency House underscores the long-term commitment of UN development agencies in East Timor.
