Dili, 26 April 2000
Some 1,000 young Timorese attended a meeting today in the gymnasium hall in Dili, organized by UNTAET to discuss employment in East Timor. CNRT President Xanana Gusmão, Mariano Sabino Lopes, from the youth group Imppetu, and Nagalingam Parammeswaran, UNTAET s Chief of Staff, addressed the audience.
Church and international NGOs representatives also attended. Many of the participants were part of the protest last 15 April in front of the Governor Office where UNTAET Headquarters is.
UNTAET s Chief of Staff said that UNTAET is not a main source to find jobs, and that it can not build a country in a week. He also said that UNTAET isn t assisting in the reconstruction of Dili only, but the entire country, and that a peaceful environment should be created in order to attract foreign investors to East Timor.
Xanana Gusmão said that the purpose of UNTAET in East Timor is not to give jobs for the Timorese, but to help the Timorese in leading the country towards independence. The Civil Service, he said, is not the only way to find work. There is also the private sector.
He said that being independent also means developing the economy, which must generate jobs. When discussing the public sector, Gusmão said it must be efficient and that it has no room for lazy, incompetent people.
Afterwards, the audience asked a number of questions touching many aspects of employment, and answers were provided by Gusmão and Parammeswaran.
SECOND DAY OF STRIKE OF LOCAL STAFF
More than 100 Timorese staff of UNTAET went on strike for a second day today demanding an increase of salaries between US$300 to US$700.
Yesterday the number was similar, and again the strikers were mostly drivers.
UNTAET Administration received some representatives of the strikers today, and asked them to have the demands in writing and to choose a leader they could discuss with.
The salaries of local staff go from US$131 to US$500 a month.
SRSG IN MALAYSIA
SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello met with the Foreign Minister of Malaysia, Syed Hamed Albar, on Tuesday night, and discussed three main points. The development of the Timorese Civil Service and how can Malaysia help; the participation of East Timor in Asean, and the foreign minister showed interest in visiting East Timor.
Today the SRSG will meet various senior officials, and will leave to Singapore, where he will meet the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs tomorrow.
PRISONS READY
The physical rehabilitation of prison facilities in Becora and Gleno have been completed. Renovations of three cellblocks in Becora prison should provide for capacity of 260 prisoners, while the prison in Gleno will have capacity of 100 inmates.
The prisons are expected to become operational in the first week of May, when the detainees from the Civilian Detention Center in Dili should be transferred to Becora prison. The catering and medical care will initially continue to be provided by the UNTAET PKF until details of a new contract with an independent contractor are worked out.
More than 30 Timorese prison wardens have been recruited already and recruitment is continuing. The Government of New Zealand is sending 11 prison management experts with the necessary equipment, who are arriving in Dili tomorrow to help run the prisons and train local personnel.
POSTAL SERVICE OPENS SATURDAY
East Timor Post Service will start operating on 29 April with domestic service between Dili and Baucau, and international service through Darwin, in Australia.
Portuguese donors handed over the stamps to be used in East Timor to Acting SRSG Jean-Christian Cady in a ceremony held on 24 April. The total help of the Portuguese government in rehabilitation of buildings, stamps, equipment and expertise amounted to some US$500,000.
The prices of stamps will be 10c for domestic and 50c for international services.
BODY OF NEW ZEALAND SERGEANT SENT HOME
The remains of the New Zealand Sergeant who died yesterday in the district of Suai were flown today to Darwin in preparation for it to be returned for burial in New Zealand.
Staff Sergeant William Edward White, 37, died in a road traffic accident. The exact circumstances of the accident are yet to be determined, but the truck in which the Sergeant and three other soldiers were traveling turned over and fell down a ravine into a river, a fall of some 80 meters. There were no other vehicles involved.
Staff Sergeant White was survived by his wife and two children.
