Poverty, economic woes cloud E. Timor birthday
Poverty, economic woes cloud E. Timor birthday
Michael Casey, Associated Press, Dili, East Timor
A year after independence, dozens of burnt out buildings
abound in East Timor's capital - haunting reminders of the
country's bloody history.
Unemployed men hang out on Dili street corners hawking phone
cards, oranges and cigarettes. In the countryside, residents live
on as little as 55 cents a day. Clean water and electricity are
luxuries most do without.
The impoverished state of this half-island has cast a shadow
over celebrations planned for Tuesday marking its first
anniversary of independence.
Already Monday, a few people danced in the streets and a
church service was held at the Dili Cathedral. Flowers were laid
at the Santa Cruz cemetery - where 200 people were killed by
Indonesian soldiers in 1991.
Timorese say they are glad to be free of the gunfire, militias
and repression that marked Indonesia's 24-year occupation. But
they complain that an economic payout from independence - jobs,
housing and basic services - is overdue.
"Under the Indonesian government, we were physically
oppressed. We were beaten up," said Nelson Belo, a prominent
activists who was jailed by the Indonesians. "But at least people
could produce goods and sell them. Now, no one has money to buy
anything."
After four centuries of Portuguese rule and Indonesia's brutal
reign, East Timorese voted for independence in a 1999 UN-
sponsored referendum. The Indonesian military and its proxy
militias responded by laying waste to the former province,
killing 1,500 Timorese and forcing 300,000 from their homes.
The United Nations administered the country for 2 1/2 years
and then handed it to the Timorese on May 20, 2002. World leaders
welcomed the arrival of the world's newest nation but the
jubilation didn't last.
In December, riots broke out in the capital after police
opened fire on angry protesters. Crowds torched dozens of
buildings - including the residence of Prime Minister Mari
Alkatiri. Two people were killed and dozens injured.
A month later, alleged militiamen attacked the village of
Atsabe and killed six people. Then, gunmen shot up a bus near the
border with Indonesia, killing two people.
Despite the setbacks, most diplomats and Timorese leaders say
the government is progressing - establishing democratic
institutions, addressing past rights abuse and strengthening
relations with Indonesia.
"There is bound to be some letdown after the euphoria if you
look at May 2002 as a starting point," said U.S. Ambassador
Grover Joseph Rees.
"But if you look at what people were saying in 1997 or after
the campaign of terror in September 1999, you've got to say
things are a lot better," he said. "East Timor has the potential
to be a model for other countries in the developing world, a
model of good government, free market economy, inclusive
democracy and acceptance of universal values."
Parliament is up and running, seven universities are open and
civic groups are thriving.
UN and Timorese prosecutors have indicted 261 people for human
rights abuses in 1999 and convicted more than 30, despite a
parallel process in Indonesia that human rights groups have
called a whitewash.
A former torture center has been transformed into a truth and
reconciliation commission and a military headquarters into an
arts center.
About 270,000 of the 300,000 refugees who fled over the border
to Indonesia in 1999 have returned home.
President Xanana Gusmao acknowledged the difficulties but
called on his fellow Timorese citizens to be patient. A former
freedom fighter and the country's most popular politician, Gusmao
said the country was "moving in the right direction."
The first year "has been a good lesson that our government can
use in the next year," he told The Associated Press. "People
understand the difficulties."
Outside of Dili, basic services remain woefully inadequate.
Only four of 13 districts have phone service, 75 percent don't
have electricity and 60 percent don't have access to clean water.
Many ministries are hampered by a lack of experienced staff,
the worst being the judiciary. Courts don't function for weeks,
inexperienced judges ignore or misinterpret the law and jails are
crowded with defendants never charged with a crime, rights
activists say.
Foreign investors have been scared off by the country's high
wages, red tape, legal uncertainty and security concerns. As a
result, the World Bank and others predict the economy will shrink
in 2003 by 2.9 percent. Unemployment estimates reach 80 percent.
"Foreign investors are not very confident about the future,"
said Jose Rodrigues Jardin, the head of Timor Telecom, the
country's largest foreign investor, which plans to spend US$50
million over 15 years.
"There is political instability," he said. "People have no
jobs. Just look at what happened in December. What happens when
the United Nations leaves?"
There are fears among Timorese that militia members - some who
remain across the border in Indonesia - may launch attacks once
U.N. peacekeepers leave in June 2004, testing a newly formed
Timorese army.
Cesarina Soares, a 29-year-old mother of five, says her family
can afford only one meal a day. But she says life is better now
than before, when the Indonesian army jailed her husband six
times on charges of being a rebel spy and militias burned down
her home.
"Independence is good," she said. "We can't pay for our own
home. But we feel free. We feel proud."