Baucau: A beacon of hope in devastated East Timor

Baucau: A beacon of hope in devastated East Timor

By Andrew Marshall

BAUCAU, East Timor (Reuters): In a territory where most settlements have been reduced to charred and mangled ghost towns, the city of Baucau stands as a beacon of hope.

East Timor's second largest city did not escape unscathed from the violence that erupted following the territory's overwhelming August 30 vote for independence.

Dozens of buildings in the city's new town were razed and thousands of people were forced to flee militia-led violence or were transported to Indonesian West Timor.

But compared to the burned-out, desolate towns littering the territory, Baucau is a minor miracle. The old town, with its cathedral and Portuguese market building, are almost untouched. Only the United Nations compound was torched.

And on the streets, life and commerce are returning.

"The situation in Baucau was very quiet, even during all these hot times," said Baucau's Bishop Basilio do Nascimento, East Timor's second most senior spiritual leader, who many credit with helping defuse tension in the city.

"Fortunately, not so many people were killed," he said. "Of course, a life is a life, but here in Baucau we only had six people who were killed and two injured."

Thousands fled into the hills as pro-Jakarta militias and the Indonesian army unleashed a wave of violence after the independence ballot.

But Nascimento said most of those who fled had returned, and the arrival of U.N.-mandated foreign troops last month to restore peace to the territory meant the city was now secure.

"When the INTERFET forces arrived, then at this moment life started to go on without problems," he said, referring to the U.N.-backed International Force in East Timor. "Concerning food and medicine, we can say the problem is almost over."

People walk Baucau's streets without fear. Laughing children ride around on oversized bicycles. And on the fringes of the old town, a market has been established. It is bustling with life.

Fruit, biscuits, cooking oil and even cosmetics can be bought. Prices have soared -- Eri Kudo-Castro, head of the World Food Program in Baucau estimates they have tripled -- but people are coming from as far as the capital Dili to buy essentials.

Luiz Monteiro used to be a government municipal employee in Baucau. Now he sells vegetables in the market. But all of his family are safe, and he is full of hope.

"We ran to the mountains last month but we came back after two weeks and we are very happy," he said. "We are able to manage here. There is food and shelter. Baucau is safe."

Tales of terror and tragedy can still be found in Baucau.

Delfina Do Santos, another vegetable seller in the market, says she had to leave one of her sons behind when militia intimidation forced her to flee Baucau last month. Her son was too ill to move and died because of a lack of medical care.

But all feel the city is now safe.

"We are secure here," Do Santos said. "We can live here."

Bishop Nascimento says he does not know why Baucau was spared the ravages inflicted on other East Timorese towns.

But he says a series of meetings he organized ahead of the independence ballot, where church leaders, the military and police and even militia leaders met to discuss how to prevent bloodshed, may have had a role in saving the city.

Baucau will be at the center of East Timor's efforts to rise from the ashes. The city is likely to become a temporary capital for the territory as Dili struggles to rebuild.

"For a temporary time, while Dili is renewed, this will be the capital," Nascimento said. "But I don't think Baucau will be the capital of East Timor forever."

The World Food Program, which is using Baucau as its base for relief efforts in the east of the territory, says it is able to travel freely through the region.

"Security is not a major concern for us any more," Kudo-Castro said. "All the major roads are fine. There are certain areas we have been told to avoid, but in general we are moving freely."

But she warned that the hope to be found in Baucau should not blind the international community to the difficulties still facing the city -- and the territory.

"Baucau is deceptive. Food prices are very much higher and the situation faced by many people is very difficult," she said.

"Outside Baucau, in the eastern region of East Timor, there are areas of great desperation, and we have to get food there before the rainy season starts. This is still an emergency."