Government team audits funds for East Timorese refugees

Government team audits funds for East Timorese refugees

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

A special team dispatched a week ago by the central government to
verify the precise number of East Timorese refugees in East Nusa
Tenggara (NTT) said here on Friday it also was investigating the
possible misuse of funds allocated for their now-halted food aid.

Permadi, who leads the 46-member team from the Finance and
Development Supervising Body, said the team would audit the use
of refugee aid funds disbursed through the provincial government
from September 1999 to early 2002.

He could not say whether there were indications that the funds
had been embezzled by local officials or individuals, as the
field investigation is still underway.

"The team members are still in the field. The results of their
findings will be audited for tabulation," Permadi said in the
East Nusa Tenggara capital of Kupang.

Johanis Kosapilawan, the spokesman for the provincial
administration, confirmed the team's plan to audit the assistance
funds disbursed for the refugees between 1999 and 2002.

The total amount of funds disbursed for the refugees remains
uncertain.

However, the local administration said it received about Rp
350 billion in emergency funds from the central government from
September 1999 through August of last year.

The money excluded Rp 63 billion in food aid funds provided by
the central government from September 1999 to September 2001, and
another Rp 12.4 billion provided from October 2001 to January of
this year.

The team, appointed by Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Jusuf Kalla, arrived in Kupang on March 2. It was tasked
with finding accurate data on the number of refugees currently
residing in numerous camps in the regencies of Kupang, Belu,
South and North Central Timor.

The provincial administration says there are a total of
128,000 East Timorese being housed across East Nusa Tenggara, but
Australia and East Timor put the figure at between 60,000 and
80,000.

The contradicting figures have caused confusion among the
Indonesian government, other countries and related international
agencies.

Permadi said last Sunday his team would require one week to
complete its job. But as of Friday, the team was still unable to
ascertain the number of the refugees.

"We have made no conclusion yet because some members of the
team are still working in the field. All the results of their
work will analyzed first," he said.

He did not give a deadline for calculating the number of
refugees in the 174 camps scattered in 106 subdistricts in the
four regencies.

Permadi admitted that one of the difficulties in gathering the
data was that many of the refugees moved between camps.

Kosapilawan said the results of the team's work would be
compared with data obtained by the provincial administration for
verification.

The refugees still remaining in NTT, most in the regency of
Belu, were among the approximately 250,000 East Timorese who fled
the violence in their homeland by pro-Indonesian militias after
East Timor voted to break away from Jakarta in August 1999. Most
of these refugees have since returned to their homes.

East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo said a total of
12,114 refugees, or 3,681 families, had been repatriated to East
Timor between June last year and February 2002.

The government halted food aid to the refugees on Jan. 1,
leaving to food shortages. Many refugees have been forced to eat
leaves, fruits and tubers from nearby forests.

However, the provincial government decided on Wednesday to
resume rice assistance to those refugees most in need.