Comunicados - PM

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-LESTE
OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER


MEDIA RELEASE

Dili, December 15, 2006


Government signs deal for cheaper diesel and improved distribution

Lower diesel and gas prices and improved distribution are expected following a Government agreement for a joint venture with the East Timor Trading Company (ETTC) on Wednesday (13/12).

The agreement between the Government of Timor-Leste and Kuwaiti-owned ETTC will establish the Timor Fuel Trading company, which will develop a distribution network throughout the country for quality diesel fuel at lower prices and build temporary and long-term fuel storage facilities.

“The increased availability of diesel gas at low prices throughout the country is one way that the government can help consumers, especially in rural areas,” the Prime Minister said. “This agreement, once materialized, will be a major breakthrough for economic development in Timor-Leste.”

The shareholder agreement provides for profit-sharing of 70% for ETTC and 30% for the Timor-Leste Government, with Timor-Leste maintaining a 51% share of the joint venture. However, Timor-Leste will not contribute with any equity. There will be no financial implications or liability for Timor-Leste. As soon as a Timor-Leste owned petroleum company is established, it will take over the government’s held shares. The agreement entitles ETTC to the management of the company for the duration of 10 years.

At the signing of the agreement, the Prime Minister emphasized that the policy of this Government and the Prime Minister is that no monopoly should be granted, including any contract to which the government is a signatory party.

“The driving force of any agreement must remain competitiveness and the market economy,” Dr. Ramos-Horta said. “Even when the government is involved in a joint venture with the private sector, this should not be interpreted as the government using its authority to block others, thus creating special privileges for any particular company.”

The Prime Minister said that he expects this joint venture to bring many benefits to Timor-Leste, but that the success of the company will be determined by the quality of their service and the price of the product, and nothing else.

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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-LESTE
OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
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MEDIA ALERT

Dili, December 18, 2006

Prime Minister Ramos-Horta to meet with Australian Minister for Justice and Customs

H.E. Prime Minister Dr José Ramos-Horta and the Australian Minister for Justice and Customs, The Honorable Chris Ellison MP, will hold discussions on issues of mutual interest today, Monday (18/12).

Following the meeting, Prime Minister Ramos-Horta and Minister Ellison will available to the media at 4.55 P.M. in the entrance hall of the Palácio do Governo.

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Gusmao's former enemies embrace call for peace in ETimor

AFP - 17 December 2006

JAKARTA - Indonesia's former armed forces chief, charged with committing atrocities in East Timor, gave a symbolic show of support for the tiny state's President Xanana Gusmao at a rare weekend meeting.

General Wiranto and former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas met Gusmao at a screening of the documentary "A Hero's Journey," which traces Gusmao's bloody struggle for the independence of East Timor, once occupied by Jakarta.

"I think this film should be shown to as many Indonesians as possible," Alatas said late Saturday after watching the film.

Gusmao, who spent seven years in a Jakarta prison before East Timor voted for independence, hugged Alatas and placed a shawl over his shoulders.

Alatas told AFP that Jakarta was pushing for East Timor to become a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and hopes to see peace and stability in the country.

"Xanana has shown the way forward ... we cannot forget the past but we should look forward," he said.

Militia gangs, which the United Nations has said were recruited and directed by Indonesia's military, went on an arson and killing spree before and after the East Timorese voted for independence in a UN-sponsored ballot in 1999.

They killed about 1,400 people and laid waste to much of the infrastructure in the half-island, which was a Portuguese colony before Indonesia invaded it in 1975.

Gusmao said the film was not an attempt to "discredit Indonesia", adding: "What we want is to note the past, but we should look at the future and not the past."

"General Wiranto, it is about you and me. It is not about East Timor and Indonesia," he said.

"A Hero's Journey" by Singapore-based Grace Phan escaped censors at the Indonesian Film Festival at a time when issues on East Timor remains sensitive here. Three other films on East Timor were banned by authorities.

Wiranto hailed the film, saying: "It is touching and the theme about forgiveness and reconciliation is very good. I think we need it."

Gusmao, who is in Indonesia on a official visit to bolster ties, met with his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono late Saturday.

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East Timor violence leaves one dead

AP/SMH - December 17, 2006 - 6:39PM

Hundreds of gang members battled with guns and machetes in East Timor's capital Dili today, officials and witnesses said, killing one and injuring two.

A young man was shot dead near the city's largest mosque, apparently by a rival gang member, before UN police intervened, said UN police spokeswoman Monica Rodrigues.

It was the latest violence in the nation of fewer than a million people, where unrest killed dozens and toppled the government earlier this year.

Foreign peacekeepers restored relative calm in June, but sporadic violence has left more than a dozen dead in recent weeks.

"We know a firearm was seen in the crowd," UN police spokeswoman Monica Rodrigues said. "The firearm was used to shoot at rival gang members."

She countered claims by a witness that UN police had shot the gang member.

Raimundo do Reis Pinto, 20, said he saw UN police from Bangladesh "shoot my brother", but Rodrigues denied that that the police were at the scene when shots were fired.

Police were investigating the shooting and she could not say if they had used firearms.

Dili National Hospital supervisor Zony Santos said a man had died of gunshot wounds after arriving at the hospital and two others were injured.

East Timor was thrust into chaos in April and May following the sacking of 600 soldiers by then Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

Rival police and army factions battled in the streets and clashes later spilled over into widespread gang warfare, looting and arson.

At least 37 people were killed and 155,000 fled their homes in the capital, Dili, amid the violence - a sign of continued political instability seven years after independence from Indonesia.

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Tough job ahead in East Timor - UN mission boss

By Karen Michelmore, South East Asia Correspondent

JAKARTA, December 17 (AAP) - The world had been too optimistic about the early achievement of East Timor, the new boss of the United Nations mission in the tiny nation says.

Veteran Indian diplomat Dr Atul Khare begins his new job in Dili today as the head of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor Leste (East Timor).

He has no illusions about the tough job he faces, with the world's newest nation beset by continuing sporadic violence, 25,000 of its citizens still in refugee camps as the wet season begins and major democratic elections just a few months away.

"It's quite a challenge because I think the people and the country have gone through a difficult period ... in the last few months," he said in a telephone interview.

"We have the forthcoming elections, which I hope will prove to be a step in the process of political dialogue and reconciliation.

"I trust, with the assistance of international partners, ... that the Timorese people will rise up to the challenge to ensure that the elections which are held are independent, free and fair, and an expression of the democratic will of the people."

Khare, who worked in East Timor for three years until 2005, most recently as deputy special representative of the secretary general to the previous UN peacekeeping mission, says he feels saddened by the recent violence, which has killed dozens of people since April.

"When UNMISET (the previous UN mission) concluded its operations in May 2005, at that point in time I and several others were convinced that the country had been reasonably securely anchored on the path towards sustainable development as a peaceful democratic state," he said.

"But that belief has been shaken by the events of the last few months.

"I have a previous association with the people of Timor Leste ... whom I regard very highly ... and in some ways I feel very pleased that I'm going back there, I'm very grateful ... for the confidence they (hold) in me.

"But at the same point in time I must also say that ... this happiness has been tinged with a bit of sadness on account of the reason which has prompted my return.

"I would have been far happier if I had returned there a few years down the line as a pure tourist to a peaceful democratic country to enjoy the beaches."

One of Khare's first meetings in Dili will be with Australia's Justice Minister Chris Ellison and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty tomorrow.

The UN shepherded East Timor to independence in 2002, through a violent period after its citizens overwhelmingly voted in 1999 for independence from Indonesia.

However, fresh violence erupted in April this year after a third of the army was sacked. Dozens of people were killed and more than 150,000 were driven from their homes.

Khare believed one of the lessons from the violence was that the international community, the UN and himself personally were "too optimistic about the level of systems building and institution building and the development of competencies of individual officers of the ... Timorese police that had taken place".

The UN's peacekeeping mission UNMISET withdrew in May 2005 and was replaced by a smaller political mission, the United Nations Office in Timor Leste (UNOTIL).

"Obviously, the events have clearly demonstrated that our optimism was somewhat misplaced," he said.

"The long-term challenge to build the PNTL (Timorese police) into a strong police force that works to international standards is the immediate lesson to be drawn from those events."

The new UN mission has been without a head since September, after former Cape Verde president Antonio Macarenhas Monteiro was briefly appointed to the job, but apparently changed his mind.

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