DATE=12/17/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=JAPAN / EAST TIMOR AID (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257248
BYLINE=KARRIN AMODEO
DATELINE=TOKYO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Tokyo on Friday, an international
donors meeting agreed to give more than 520
million dollars for the reconstruction of East
Timor. As Karrin Amodeo reports from Tokyo, the
pledge by the donor countries and international
agencies far exceeded expectations.
Text: When a World Bank mission toured East
Timor last month, it estimated that it would take
300 million dollars to rebuild the devastated
territory. On Friday, more than fifty countries
and international agencies pledged 523 million
dollars in aid donations to the territory over
the next three years.
Speaking at Friday's meeting for the
International Aid for East Timor, the special
representative of the Secretary of the United
Nations, Sergio de Mello, said the pledge of more
money than was expected demonstrated the great
interest the international community has in East
Timor.
/// DE MELLO ACT//
I think it is clearly indicative of the
sense of sympathy and global solidarity
that exists for East Timor. It is a boost
to our determination and indeed also
increases our sense of responsibility.
/// END ACT ///
The promised 520 million dollars, to be given
over a three-year period, will be used for
development and reconstruction of East Timor.
The international sponsors agreed that the U-N's
transitional administration in East Timor will
oversee a trust fund designed to rebuild the
territory's civil administration, while the World
Bank and the Asian Development Bank will jointly
focus on health, education, farming, as well as
rebuilding the infrastructure in East Timor.
Nelson Martins, health representative of one of
the Timorese groups at the conference (the
National Council of Timorese Resistance),
welcomed the promised aid.
/// MARTINS ACT ///
This is good news for our people. We will
enter the new century.with the feeling of
hope.
/// END ACT ///
Along with that sense of hope came the concern
expressed by many about the dangers of misusing
donor aid. East Timorese rebel leader Xanana
Gusmao says the humanitarian and reconstruction
programs must be carefully coordinated so that
the money from the international community will
be channeled into the areas it is most needed.
In the days after the East Timorese voted (August
30) for independence from Indonesia, pro-
Indonesian militia groups went on a rampage,
looting and burning homes, massacring civilians,
and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their
homes. When the rampage was over, most of the
island's infrastructure was destroyed and its
economy crippled.
Japan, the host country of the aid conference,
has already provided 100 million dollars to the
fund for East Timor. The Japanese government has
also promised economic aid to Japanese non-
governmental organizations working in East Timor.
The ultimate goal - of the international
community and the people of East Timor -- is for
territory to become completely self-reliant.
Elections are slated in the coming two years.
(Signed)
NEB/KA/GC/KL
17-Dec-1999 08:18 AM EDT (17-Dec-1999 1318 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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