BORDER LIAISON COMMITTEE TO BE ESTABLISHED WITH INDONESIA

The second meeting of the Joint Border Committee between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) agreed that a Border Liaison Committee be established.

The Border Liaison Committee would faciliate implementation of agreements reached at the national level and would meet in the second half of September, together with the next meeting of the Technical Sub-Committee on Border Security.

This second meeting was held in Jakarta on yesterday and today, 20 July. The meeting took place in a cordial and cooperative atmosphere, and reached agreement on the points under discussion.

The Indonesian delegation was led by Oentarto Sindung Mawardi, Director-General for Public Administration of the Department of Home and Regional Autonomy Affairs. The UNTAET delegation was led by Ambassador Lakham Mehrotra, Director of the UNTAET Office in Jakarta.

Technical Sub-Committees met to advance the work and practical understandings in the following four areas: border security; cross-border police cooperation; the demarcation and regulation of the border between the Republic of Indonesia and the future independent state of East Timor; and the cross-border movement of people and goods. The last Technical Sub-Committee also considered the issue of border crossing points.

UNTAET offered to host the third meeting of the Joint Border Committee in Dili, East Timor, in October 2001.

BILLING OF ELECTRICITY RESUMES IN EAST TIMOR

The East Timor Transitional Cabinet on Wednesday, 18 July, decided that there is an immediate need to operate the Power Service on a financially sustainable basis and that, therefore, the electricity consumers in Dili will soon be billed for the service.

The Power Service, which has been free of charge for almost 21 months and dependent upon the donor community, is near bankruptcy. The Cabinet considered that if service fees do not start to be collected now, Dili would be left without power in a few months.

The cost of providing power to East Timor is over US$12 million dollars per year.

"We need to rescue the Power Service in East Timor," said today Iain Hook, Director General of Infrastructure Department of the East Timor Transitional Administration. "The first thing we need to do is to start receiving revenues. Donor countries will not invest in the Power Service any longer if they do not see that a sustainable system, including the creation of revenue, is being implemented."

Donor countries wish to see that their funds go to supporting development in East Timor, not to providing free electricity.

There are more than 18,000 consumers of electricity in Dili, and the service has been free for almost two years. The revenue will enable the Power Service to improve the service. There will be four consumer centers in Dili.

The fees are being discussed and will be announced soon.