| Subject: UN
spells out devastation in E. Timor; Warns of Unrest
also: UN Warns of Unrest in East Timor UN spells out devastation in East Timor territory By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan predicted an uphill battle to put East Timor back together again, saying the scorched earth policy of armed gangs and the departure of Indonesian civil servants would impede recovery for the foreseeable future. In a report released to the Security Council on Friday, Annan said housing, unemployment, food supplies and public services were still in shambles following the havoc last autumn when militia, backed by the Indonesian army, wrecked buildings and infrastructure before an Australian-led force arrived. ``The devastating effects of the systematic destruction and violence last September and the consequent cessation of civil and public services will continue to be serious impediments for the foreseeable future,'' he wrote. ``Moreover, widespread unemployment and the disruption of the education system and other social and public services, combined with the very high prices of food and other daily necessities, bear the potential for serious social problems.'' RAGE FOLLOWS INDEPENDENCE The report is the first since Annan's special representative, Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello, went to East Timor in November to head the U.N. operation that will guide the territory to independence. East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975, in a U.N.-organised August 30 election, after which militia loyal to Jakarta went on the rampage. Some 80 percent of the population is unemployed and many homes are left damaged or completed destroyed. The United Nations intends to help repair 35,000 homes and one vessel is expected to arrive weekly over next two months with materials. Annan said that contributions were needed quickly, especially to a U.N. trust fund to pay the costs of an East Timor administration, estimated at $28.3 million this year. The generous pledges of $31.51 million for reconstruction agreed last year by donors meeting in Tokyo had barely begun to arrive, with $8.1 million disbursed so far, he said. Timor has turned into a kind of test case for the United Nations, which soon will be in charge of the military as well as civilian operations. Some 8,500 U.N.-led peacekeepers from 27 countries are to begin replacing the current force during February. But some troops will remain the same and don blue helmets. MILITIA IMPEDE U.N. PERSONNEL Vieira de Mello has, however, managed to set up a skeleton public administration system and the report said it was hoped that ``the basic elements of public administration'' would be in place by the end of February, the report said.. The report also noted that tens of thousands of East Timorese were still in disease-ridden camps in Indonesian West Timor, five months after they fled the mayhem or were driven there by militia in September. The militia in the camps, ``continue to impede access of U.N. personnel,'' Annan said. In one camp at Tua Pukam 24 miles (38 kms) from Kupang, the capital, 157 of 4,000 refugees died in a six-week period from malaria, diarrhoea and other diseases. Annan said people greeted the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor, UNTAET, which now has 351 foreign and 640 local staff, with ``a great deal of goodwill and very high expectations.'' But he said ``they are in desperate straits and are understandably impatient for UNTAET to deliver.'' Back to
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