Timorese urged to bury hatchet

Timorese urged to bury hatchet

DILI, East Timor (JP): A rally of thousands marked East
Timor's integration into Indonesia yesterday in front of the
gubernatorial office complex here.

Students, civil servants, youths, community leaders, members
of the Armed Forces (ABRI) and pro-integration leaders attended
the ceremony, which was led by governor Abilio Jose Osorio
Soares.

Also in attendance were the chief of the Udayana military
command, which oversees security in East Timor, Maj. Gen. R.
Adang Ruchiatna; speaker of the provincial legislative council
Antonio Freitas Parada; and representatives from the local
diocese.

Governor Abilio appealed to all parties to bury their hatchets
and join hands to develop the province, which still trails behind
Indonesia's other provinces.

"This (celebration) does not aim to open old wounds or
rekindle animosity among the East Timorese," Abilio said. "All
parties should use this occasion to forgive each other and join
hand to develop the territory," Abilio said.

East Timor was integrated into Indonesia in 1976 following a
civil war which erupted after the abrupt withdrawal of the
Portuguese colonial administrators in 1975. The UN is yet to
recognize East Timor as Indonesia's territory and considers
Lisbon the administrator.

The governor acknowledged that the development efforts pursued
by the Indonesian government over the past 19 years had not
entirely satisfied people in the youngest province.

But he said that the government's commitment to making East
Timor prosper remained strong and that locals were increasingly
involved in the process.

Abilio reiterated his call for greater autonomy for the
province, in view of its unique cultural background.

He stressed, however, that the autonomy he was advocating was
limited to "special treatment" for the province's culture and
that he was not referring to an independence that could lead to
political independence for East Timor.

"There is no way East Timor can be financially independent
because almost 99 percent of its budget has to be provided by
Jakarta," Abilio told a press conference.

Meanwhile, East Timor military commander Col. Mahidin Simbolon
told journalists that the number of Fretilin armed separatist
rebels was dwindling.

"But we don't mean to wipe them out with armed force. We are
still appealing them to voluntarily surrender and we will treat
them well," Simbolon said.

On a number of occasions local military officials have even
promised to help Fretilin activists find jobs if they turned
themselves in and repented.

According to Maj. Gen. Adang Ruchiatna, ABRI has two combat
battalions and seven territorial battalions in East Timor.

Territorial battalions' main job is to help local people build
public facilities, such as roads and bridges, and to introduce
the people to modern farming techniques.

"What other country assigns its military to carry out such
missions in remote villages?" he asked. He added that the
military also carried out such civic missions in other provinces,
especially in poor ones like East Nusa Tenggara.

Abilio said the government was planning to build a US$150
million hydro-electric power plant in East Timor with funds to be
provided by the European Union. (yac/pan)