Rehabilitating East Timor: The daunting task ahead

Rehabilitating East Timor: The daunting task ahead

By T.M. Callahan

JAKARTA (JP): Responding to the suggestion that East Timor is
not viable without Indonesia, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose
Ramos-Horta recently remarked: "One does not have to be an
Einstein to do slightly better than those incompetent, lazy,
corrupt bastards who managed our country for 23 years. Sometimes
I find it laughable that the Indonesian (authorities) keep
telling us East Timor cannot manage itself without Indonesia."
(Asiaweek, Sept. 24) Harsh words for sure, but Ramos-Horta's
rebuke is perhaps understandable if viewed from the perspective
of his long struggle for independence and his outrage at the
devastation that rocked his homeland after the Aug. 30 referendum
for independence.

In a somewhat less spirited response in Washington D.C. last
month, Ramos-Horta insisted that an independent East Timor had
tremendous potential and was economically viable. Citing oil and
gas reserves in the Timor Gap, mineral wealth, tourism potential
and agriculture, he said that East Timor could be self-
sufficient.

On the concern that the territory's small size and population
were major handicaps, Ramos-Horta rejected the assumption and
said the example of Singapore's success proved that the quality
of a nation's people were the key to national viability. While
acknowledging that East Timor was unlikely to become another
Switzerland, he said the new nation should be able to feed itself
within five to 10 years.

Many anxious observers no doubt hope that Ramos-Horta is
right. Nevertheless, the basic premise that East Timor cannot
manage itself, at least for the time being, is not wrong. At this
point, there is not much left to work with in the territory.
However, even if East Timor had not been devastated after its
citizens opted to separate from Indonesia, its leaders would have
been ill-equipped to contend with the daunting challenges
associated with building a nation.

Indeed, the shortlist of things to do is enough to turn any
head of state gray. During the transition to independence, East
Timor must elect leaders, establish government institutions,
build a functioning civil service, form a judiciary, develop a
plan for the provision of education and health care services, and
assess its immediate and long-term infrastructure needs.

On the economic side, the priorities include tasks such as
forming a central and commercial banking system, solving
currency-related issues, establishing and complying with budgets,
and choosing a language suitable for commerce and administration.
Importantly, to help feed its people East Timor must revive its
agriculture sector in a hurry.

The job ahead will be made more difficult by the scarcity of
technical and administrative expertise in East Timor. Currently
there are precious few home-grown professional managers and
holders of advanced academic qualifications in the territory. In
general this situation exists because daily governance of East
Timor was in the hands of nonindigenous transplants since Jakarta
took over in 1975.

Anyone who has ever visited the territory can testify to this
fact. The result is that every public institution, from schools
and hospitals to the civil service, was dominated by outsiders.
If Ramos-Horta's promise of a viable nation is to be realized,
East Timor must remedy this problem.

This means that East Timor's leaders must make wise use of
foreign assistance and expertise during a United Nations
administration period of two to three years before the hand over
to a fully-independent government. Fortunately for East Timor,
the UN agencies, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the donor community
at large appear eager to provide this aid.

A Joint Assessment Mission of major donors is scheduled to be
in East Timor from Oct. 26 to Nov. 9 to assess the situation on
the ground so that a coordinated approach to reconstruction and
development aid can be devised. Coordinated by the UN Mission in
East Timor and the World Bank, the assessment mission will
produce a report that outlines how funding and resources should
be mobilized to address these needs.

After the mission's technical experts complete their
fieldwork, more information will be available on the shape of
future development programs.

In the meantime, most of the large donor organizations are
committed to helping East Timor address critical humanitarian
needs. The priorities now are to rehabilitate basic
infrastructure, help people return to their homes and make sure
the violence that erupted after the independence ballot does not
reoccur.

For example, working closely with the UN and World Bank, the
ADB will focus on the provision of basic services such as public
administration, health care, education, power supply and water.
The ADB will also participate in the rehabilitation of damaged
infrastructure, although specific project commitments are still
under discussion. According to an ADB programs officer in Manila,
another priority will be to aid East Timorese refugees, many of
whom are still living in camps across the boarder in Indonesian-
held West Timor.

Looking beyond the immediate humanitarian crisis, other
organizations are already developing programs that will impact
East Timor's medium and long-term prospects. For example, in a
recent interview, a key United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
official with East Timor responsibility, Victor Angelo, said that
special emphasis would be put on developing the necessary skills
and competencies in the East Timorese to run the country after
the UN leaves. The UNDP's Jakarta office shared four interesting
examples of projects focused on cultivating new skills.

In one example, the UNDP plans to offer short-term vocational
training to interested East Timorese who have been evacuated to
Australia. Training will be focused on the building and
construction sector, transport maintenance and food processing.

A second project aims to provide on-the-job training to
unskilled and semiskilled workers who will be employed in
reconstruction activities. Considering the extent of the
destruction in cities like Dili, trained bricklayers, carpenters,
electricians and mechanics are bound to be in high demand in the
years to come. A third project seeks to reopen a polytechnic in
Dili that was attacked and looted after the August referendum.
After the polytechnic is reestablished, the UNDP intends to make
it a center for vocational and training activities.

Finally, in a move sure to draw applause from many in the
media, the UNDP and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
plan to work together to provide media training in East Timor.

The overriding objective will be to reestablish the print,
radio and television media so that there is a way to broadcast
news to the masses.

The years ahead will be difficult for East Timor. During the
transition to full independence, its challenge will be to heal
the sorrows of yesterday and lay the foundation for a brighter
tomorrow. To build a new nation, it will have to struggle to
overcome limiting factors such as size, poverty and a severe
shortage of locally available experts. Success will also hinge on
how well East Timor makes use of foreign experts and development
dollars. Only then will we see if Ramos-Horta's promise of
national viability is real.

The writer is a business consultant in Jakarta.