False alarm over alleged starvation in Atauro
By Dino Patti Djalal
This is the first of two articles on the alleged starvation in Atauro islet in East Timor province.
DILI (JP): A few weeks ago, the startled regent of Dili, Domingos Soares, received news that foreign donations amounting to US$25,000 were being sent his way to help feed the population of Atauro.
Domingos was not sure what to do with the money, but the notion that it was meant to relieve "starvation" was downright ludicrous.
"I heard some fuss about starvation in Atauro," Domingos told me during my recent visit to Dili, "but so far no one has bothered to verify the actual situation with me."
Domingos has good reason to be miffed: Atauro falls under his administrative jurisdiction. On a clear day, he can see the tips of Atauro island from his front porch. A hard-working bureaucrat, he visits the area regularly and considers himself well-versed with its conditions and problems. He suspected that "someone somewhere is pulling somebody's leg about this whole thing".
Domingos' hunch is right on the mark. In January this year, East Timorese separatist Jose Ramos Horta made an emotional international appeal from Darwin, Australia to "save East Timor".
Ramos Horta, who has a gift for sensational verbalism, stated that: "There will be mass starvation in East Timor if the international community does not act quickly enough. The international community will be responsible for this."
Horta said that the Indonesian government was "hampering efforts to move emergency supplies" into the affected areas. Shortly after, the Darwin-based East Timor International Support Center, obviously acting on Horta's cue, announced: "Schools are closing early and many of the children are starving."
The Center added that, "As Indonesia is clearly unable to provide assistance for the incipient natural disaster in East Timor, the government of Indonesia should urgently provide free and unfettered access to East Timor for international humanitarian groups."
The message was clear: East Timor's doomsday is near. Don't let yesteryear's Ethiopia be this year's East Timor. After making his appeal in Darwin, Horta left for Europe where he is expected to plead for European Union ambassadors to act to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
Is there "starvation" in East Timor?
This much is clear: several areas in East Timor face the prospect of a deficit in food produced. The provincial government has reported cases of prolonged drought and varying degrees of food shortages in Dili/Atauro, Baucau, Ambeno, Manatuto, Lautem, Ermera and Liquisa.
This fact was also been confirmed to me by church officials in East Timor.
East Timor is only the latest victim of the erratic global climatic change brought about by El Nino. The area reported abroad to be hardest hit by the drought is the island of Atauro, which has received the most aid from the social department in Dili.
Rain usually falls in November, but this year it came late in January, a blow to crops planted last year, even though some managed to survive.
Food deficit, however, is nothing new for Atauro. Virtually every year the villagers produce less corn than is needed by the island's 7,000 inhabitants, and every year tons of food is supplied from Dili.
This year's problem is no different than in previous years, except in scale. But how serious is it?
Last week, I traveled to Atauro to find out. Domingos Soares had kindly arranged for a boat to take me there, but I decided to use a helicopter offered by East Timor's military commander to obtain a bird's eye view of the remote places of the island.
Viewed from above, Atauro looks neither dry nor barren. Atauro is predominantly green, with lots of grass and trees, including coconut trees. I saw small pockets of dry land and rocky landscapes, but they were relatively distant from human settlements.
The writer is a member of the executive boards of the Indonesian Council on World Affairs (ICWA) and of Pusat Studi Kawasan Asia Tenggara. The views expressed here are strictly personal.
Window: Food deficit, however, is nothing new for Atauro. Virtually every year the villagers produce less corn than is needed by the island's 7,000 inhabitants, and every year tons of food is supplied from Dili.