| Subject: East
Timor may be late for its millennium
East Timor may be late for its millennium
DILI, East Timor, Dec 30 (Reuters) - When
the clock strikes midnight on December 31, East Timor will herald the
start of the next millennium as the newest nation on earth.
The problem is deciding which midnight to
celebrate in the ravaged territory only just released from 23 years under
Indonesian control.
Its past rulers, the argument goes, put
it in the wrong time zone at eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT). Its geographic location should make it nine hours ahead.
There are no clear records to say who or
what is behind the anomaly.
Some say the decision was made by the
Portuguese colonial rulers, but most blame their successors, Indonesia,
who allegedly turned the clock back one hour for military expediency.
``They (Indonesians) moved the time one
hour back so it would coincide with the time in Bali which was the
military headquarters of East Timor...so it was done for the convenience
of the military,'' said Juan Federer, executive director of Timor Aid.
Now economic expediency is the rule in
the impoverished region.
The United Nations transitional
administration in East Timor, or UNTAET, is toying with the idea of
winding the clocks forward an hour.
``The days would be longer and there
would be less need for electrical lighting,'' said UNTAET chief, Sergio
Vieira de Mello.
``There would also be some advantages,
especially in the urban areas to put East Timor in a time zone which is
geographically correct,'' he said.
UNTAET is helping lead the territory to
independence in two or three years.
But Joao Carrascalao, brother of the
former governor of East Timor, believes most East Timorese are accustomed
to daybreak at 5 am and dusk at 6 pm and want to leave the time as it is.
``Portugal tried to change the time
forward in 1974 because the sun rises too early but the suggestion raised
a lot of problems with the Timorese and I still don't think it would work
today because it conflicts with their way of life,'' he said.
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