483 East Timorese to vote in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Four hundred and eighty-three East Timorese staying in the capital are eligible to participate in the direct ballot on East Timor's future, Deputy Governor of Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi said on Thursday.

Kahfi said the figure included only those who could be recorded. The city administration will collect further data in the second week of this month.

"All district heads and mayors have been instructed to facilitate all of the administrative and other requirements for the ballot," he announced after a meeting between the city's local authorities and officials of the ministry at City Hall.

Kahfi said the majority of registered East Timorese, 184, lived in North Jakarta and 141 lived in South Jakarta.

Another 84 people live in West Jakarta, 35 in Central Jakarta while the remaining 39 people live in East Jakarta.

All East Timorese, either living in the country or abroad, are eligible to vote to determine the future of the former Portuguese colony: whether to remain a part of Indonesia with wide-ranging autonomy or to move toward independence in a ballot under United Nations supervision.

The ballot was initially scheduled for Aug. 8, but UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recently announced a two-week delay.

The ballot will cost US$45.7 million for 600 staff members including 100 UN political officers, 141 field officers and some 400 UN volunteers. Four thousand local personnel also will be hired for the project.

Annan expects the budget will have to be increased by $7.4 million in order to deploy up to 300 civilian police advisers.

Kahfi said the ballot would be held wholly by the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), while the city administration will play the role of facilitator and will provide data and polling centers.

He said polling centers would be in the capital's five mayoralties at places located close to East Timorese communities. (ind)