Dili, 9 August 2001
IEC EXTENDS DEADLINES FOR ELECTION MONITORS, AGENTS

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has extended the deadlines to apply to become international or national electoral observers and political party agents to monitor the upcoming Constituent Assembly elections.

The deadline to apply as national and international observer groups is now 16 August at 6 p.m. instead of 9 August, and the deadline to nominate individual national and international observer team members and the political party/independent candidate agents has been extended until 23 August at 6 p.m., instead of 16 August.

The announcement was made yesterday during the weekly briefing given to political parties and independent candidates at the IEC headquarters in Dili. At the meeting party representatives and independent candidates received information on the procedures in place for the counting of the national and district ballots that will be followed starting the day after the election.

In related news, 66 members of the newly created East Timor Defense Force are being deployed in the East, Central, and Western sectors of the country in order to provide security support to the international peacekeeping force over the upcoming election period.

CABINET APPROVES GRANT AGREEMENT

The East Timor Transitional Cabinet today approved the signing of a Trust Fund for East Timor (TFET) Grant Agreement worth US$4.5 million between East Timor and the Asian Development Bank. The Agreement will fund an extension to the existing Water and Sanitation Project. The overall Project aims to provide East Timor with sustainable water and sanitation services and the Project extension will allow further work to be undertaken to rehabilitate this sector, including capacity building and institutional development.

The Cabinet also swore in Deputy Transitional Administrator Dennis McNamara as the Cabinet Member for Police and Emergency Services.

In addition, the Cabinet agreed that the Transitional Administration should expedite its preparations to seek eviction orders from the Dili District Court in respect to publicly owned properties that are presently occupied illegally. The Cabinet noted that there remain a number of outstanding issues regarding the housing of diplomatic missions.

The Cabinet also discussed a report prepared for its consideration on the Transitional Administration?s legislative record from January to July 2001. The report indicated that sound legislative progress has been made in the last seven months, with the promulgation of 21 regulations, many establishing important institutions for East Timor.

Finally, the Transitional Administrator, who returned from New York yesterday after attending the United Nations Security Council Open Meeting on East Timor, reiterated the importance of the rules that he issued in June for civil servants and East Timorese employees of UNTAET participating in the electoral campaign.

POSTAL SERVICE GETS NEW DELIVERY VAN

The Transitional Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Ovídio de Jesus Amaral, handed over the keys of the first postal delivery van to post office staff in Dili today. This is a major step forward in providing access to communication to people in rural areas throughout East Timor. The van will be used to deliver mail throughout East Timor.