INDEPENDENT ELECTION CANDIDATES
APPLY FOR REGISTRATION

Two independent candidates, Bento Mendonça and Domingos Alves, have submitted applications for registration to the Independent Electoral Commission in order to stand for election as national representatives in the elections for the Constituent Assembly. Mr. Mendonça filed his registration application with the Commission today; Alves submitted his application yesterday. The registration application is available for public inspection at Independent Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Dili for two weeks after having been submitted.

OVER NINETY PER CENT OF EAST TIMOR HAS REGISTERED

Nearly 91 percent – more than 738,000 people – of East Timor’s population have been registered by UNTAET’s Civil Registration Unit as of yesterday, 14 June. Ninety-nine percent of the estimated population of Dili has been registered, although this figure likely includes a number of people who came into the capital from surrounding districts. In Dili, a total of 109 prisoners were registered yesterday at the Becora prison, and 260 people at the mosque on Tuesday.

INFORMATION ON ELECTIONS TO BE
SENT TO TIMORESE DIASPORA

UNTAET’s Office of Communication and Public Information has put together information kits on the elections and other issues relating to the nation’s development to be distributed among the East Timorese Diaspora in Australia, Portugal, Indonesia, Macao and the former Portuguese colonies in Africa. The first five kits – containing five kilos each of information material including Video CDs, taped radio programs, fact sheets, newspapers and posters – will be sent next Tuesday, 19 June, to Jakarta, Lisbon, Melbourne, Sydney and Darwin. The kits include materials produced by the UNTAET-run Televisaun Timor Lorosa’e (TVTL), Radio UNTAET, the Publications Unit and UNTAET’s Press Office. The material will be distributed to focal points within the East Timorese communities abroad, such as community leaders, journalists, cultural and sports groups. The kits are aiming at encouraging the Diaspora to play a more active role in the development of the country by registering with Civil Registration and applying for work in East Timor. Not counting the refugees in West Timor, the Diaspora amounts to approximately 20,000 people dispersed across the globe.

RECONCILIATION COMMITTEE
WORKS ON DRAFT REGULATION

Eight of the 15 members of the Special Committee of the National Council on the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation have given their support to the draft regulation on the establishment of a Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation. The Committee, which met on Tuesday and chose Father José Antonio da Costa as its new chair, made some minor changes to the draft regulation. The Committee met again today. The Committee also agreed to hold a separate meeting with the Truth and Reconciliation Steering Committee, which developed the draft regulation. The Special Committee is expected to recommend that the National Council adopt the regulation at its meeting on Monday, 18 June.

DILI MARKET RELOCATION UNDERWAY

The relocation of vendors from the overcrowded Dili Central Market to the new markets in the neighborhoods of Becora, Comoro and Taibessi, started this week and over 260 vendors who signed agreements or registered to set up stalls at Becora market have occupied their spaces so far. The relocation got off to a slow start on 11 June as vendors cleared their sites to move stalls and market goods. The move to Comoro market has been put on hold for the moment as unregistered vendors settled in the market. Vendors with signed receipts for stalls will have to wait until market staff from the Dili District Administration can ascertain which vendors have legitimate claims to stalls. The relocation of vendors to the newly-refurbished market in Taibessi is expected to start next week. The market in Taibessi is refurbished under the budget of the Transitional Administration. The reconstruction is carried out by the Bangladeshi contingent of the Peacekeeping Force.

The markets in Becora and Comoro have been refurbished under the auspices of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the Japanese NGO Adventist Development Relief Agency. Works undertaken include the repair and reconstruction of roofed stall areas, construction of tiled benches, installation and repair of drains, paving and car park areas. The idea is that the improved and more secure conditions at Becora, Comoro and Taibessi markets will act as a magnet, drawing sellers from the overcrowded Central Market.