West Timor Governor visits Dili for talks with UN officials
8 June -- The head of the United Nations mission in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and pro-independence leader Xanana Gusmao met today with the governor of West Timor to discuss how to speed up repatriation and increase trade on the island.
During the talks with Governor Piet Tallo, which according to UN officials were held in a "positive spirit" and a "very forward-looking way," one of the most important issues under discussion was the repatriation of East Timorese living in camps in West Timor. The parties agreed that additional measures needed to be adopted to accelerate the return of the refugees.
In a briefing to the press after the meetings, the head of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) said that one way to foster repatriation was to promote a wider exchange of information through the media, to fight "the misinformation and the many lies that are circulating" in the refugee camps.
"We believe that journalists are our best vehicle in presenting objective and accurate information to the population of refugees," he said, adding that he had asked Governor Tallo to facilitate visits by journalists, as well as by Timorese leaders and religious figures to the West to inform the refugee population about life in East Timor.
On the issue of trade, the parties agreed that a small delegation from East Timor would meet in West Timor with specialists from the Indonesian Government and the private sector to discuss how to increase trade and investment between the two parts of the island.
Mr. Vieira de Mello also asked Governor Tallo to encourage the central authorities in Jakarta to give UNTAET an answer on the question of pensions for former civil servants in the Indonesian Administration, now living in the West Timor camps. "We believe that unless there is clarity on this question, it is not likely that these persons will take the decision to come home as we hope they will," the head of mission said.
Finally, the leaders agreed that "very practical measures" needed to be worked out to open a corridor between East Timor and its Oecussi enclave in West Timor.
