DATE=2/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR / WORLD BANK (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259382
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The President of the World Bank is in East
Timor to sign the first grant intended to help
the devastated territory develop its own
government. As Patricia Nunan reports from
Jakarta, James Wolfensohn's visit comes amidst
growing resentment within East Timor at what is
seen as the slow pace of assistance to ordinary
people.
Text: The 19 and one-half million dollar grant
will fund a project to train East Timorese who
will work in the territory's future government.
The project -- which begins in March -- will also
help rebuild infrastructure across the territory.
The money comes from a multi-lateral trust fund
that will total 147 million dollars, to be
managed by the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank.
That fund is part of a larger sum -- 520 million
dollars in pledges made to East Timor by donor
countries and international financial
institutions in Tokyo last December.
The World Bank President James Wolfensohn was
welcomed to the capital Dili, by three top
leaders -- Xanana Gusmao, the man expected to be
the first president of East Timor, fellow
independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta, and Sergio
de Mello, the head of the United Nations in East
Timor.
The group immediately went to the town of
Mantutu, 60 kilometers east of the capital for
talks with local officials.
Earlier this month, Mr. de Mello, the head of the
United Nations Transitional Administration in
East Timor, launched an appeal to international
donors to speed up disbursements of funds. Mr. de
Mello said donors risked alienating the East
Timorese people, who had only seen funding go
towards the building of offices for the United
Nations and other aid institutions.
The World Bank says the initial projects it will fund
will focus on the rehabilitation of local
infrastructure -- such as water, roads and power, the
revitalization of primary education, job creation and
support for small businesses.
East Timor was devastated by a wave of killing
and destruction last September when armed militia
groups seized control of the territory. Hundreds
of villages and towns were burned to the ground,
forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee.
At least two-hundred people were killed.
The violence followed East Timor's vote for
independence after 24 years of Indonesian rule.
(signed)
NEB/PN/GC/FC
21-Feb-2000 05:07 AM EDT (21-Feb-2000 1007 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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