UN appeals for more aid to support fledgling E. Timor

UN appeals for more aid to support fledgling E. Timor

CANBERRA (Agencies): The United Nations appealed on Friday for
greater generosity from international donors to support East
Timor and warned against political violence as the fledgling
state prepares for its first parliamentary elections.

Speaking at the opening of the fourth Donor's Meeting on East
Timor, the state's UN administrator, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said
he expected a US$20 million deficit in this year's budget.

De Mello said the United Nations Transitional Administration
in East Timor (UNTAET) had prepared a US$65 million budget for
fiscal year 2001-02, which was "neither lavish nor imprudent."

"Support to bridge this deficit is what we are asking of the
donor community for 2001-02. Budget support is not unusual in the
early days of independence. East Timor should be no exception,"
he told the 27 governments, and 18 aid agencies attending the
conference in Australia's capital.

Total spending from all aid sources in rebuilding the country,
including the budget, is estimated at US$304.7 million in 2001-
02.

The aid donors renewed their pledges on Thursday to help
rebuild devastated East Timor following calls for longer-term
support after the territory gains independence next year.

But a two-day meeting of donors in Canberra discussed the need
to move away from emergency assistance and plan a strategy to
help East Timor achieve economic sustainability.

"We need to think about a paradigm shift in our assistance to
address issues that clearly go beyond emergency reconstruction,"
World Bank East Asia and Pacific Regon vice president Jumal-ud-
din Kassum told the meeting.

The World Bank is administering a three-year $170 million
trust fund for East Timor which is being used to help rebuild
hospitals, schools and other infrastructure.

The former Portuguese colony, which suffered 23 years of
Jakarta rule before its UN-run referendum, is one of the world's
poorest territories with widespread unemployment, a dearth of
skilled personnel and an army of homeless.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Canberra
would provide budget support in the early years of independence
and appealed for other donors to do the same. "There will have to
be budgetary support for East Timor," he told reporters.

However, Downer said he wanted to quickly wind back support
claiming it could be counterproductive. He said that by 2004, oil
developments in the Timor Sea would be delivering considerable
revenue to the East Timorese.

"We need to be generous to East Timor ... we do that not just
from the goodness of our hearts but because Australia has a
vested interest in a successful new emerging country in our
vicinity," he said.

Australia and East Timor are locked in talks over splitting
petroleum revenues from a disputed oil and gas area of the Timor
Sea with a deal expected to be signed within weeks.

De Mello said East Timor was prepared for the Aug. 30
Constituent Assembly elections, but a new civil administration
would not be ready by the time the UN mandate ended next year.

"The reality today is that we do not yet have an effective
East Timorese administration and we will not have one on Jan. 31,
2002 or whenever East Timor fully becomes independent," he said.

De Mello also warned his administration, which is supported by
a UN peacekeeping force, would not tolerate political violence
during the coming elections.

"There is still a very real fear among much of the population
that the political process may lead to unrest and violence. I
will not tolerate politically motivated violence in the
territory," he said.