DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-LESTE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

MEDIA RELEASE

Dili, November 6 2006

Export of scrap metal banned to stop rogue traders

Rogue scrap metal traders buying valuable cabling and other materials suspected to have been stolen have forced the Government of Timor-Leste to temporarily ban the export of all scrap metal.

“The Government will not tolerate this sort of behavior,” the Prime Minister Dr José Ramos-Horta said today. “It is clear that some traders have been dealing in stolen property.

“These unscrupulous people and dealers are preying on people who have already suffered so much.”

The Government today issued a Ministerial Dispatch (a copy is attached to this Media Release) declaring that the “collection, commercialization and export of all scrap metals is hereby temporarily forbidden until further notice.”

The Dispatch stated that any illegal collection and/or transport of scrap metal would result in the immediate cancellation of licences and registrations, and legal action would be taken.

“The collection of scrap metal has grown dramatically in our country as a result of the destruction of property during the conflict that rocked the country,” Dr Ramos-Horta said.

“This growth has resulted in difficulties in policing these scrap metal collection activities and metals, cables and other metal products which are not actually scrap have been collected illegally and processed.

The Prime Minister said the actions of some traders were deplorable and intolerable.

For further information please contact::

Joel Maria Pereira Information Officer Gabinete Primeiru Ministru Email: riko_joel @ yahoo.com Telephone: +670 7254740

Ivana Belo Information Officer Gabinete Primeiru Ministru Email: unugina2004 @ yahoo.com Telephone: +670 724 3559.

Julian Swinstead Communications/Media Advisor Office of the Prime Minister Email: jswinstead @ hotmail.com Telephone: +670 732 7776.