Asia Times: World Bank sizes up reconstruction tasks in East Timor



	October 29, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

World Bank sizes up reconstruction tasks in East Timor
By Sonny Inbaraj

DARWIN, Australia - A World Bank mission will travel to East Timor this week to examine what needs to be done to rebuild the devastated state formerly occupied by Indonesia. Bank officials admit that every aspect of the newly independent country's needs - from reconstruction to governance and the establishment of an economy - poses serious challenges.

The mission comprises 30 experts from the International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, Australia, Japan, Portugal and UN agencies, along with an East Timorese contingent led by former governor Mario Carrascalao, who is confident international help will speed up East Timor's path to complete independence. ''Two to three years might be too soon, but . . . in five to 10 years we will be there.''

''This is a country that needs to be rebuilt from the ground up,'' said Graham Barret, the World Bank's external affairs advisor for East Asia and the Pacific region, ''starting with East Timor's urgent humanitarian needs, through the replenishment of East Timor's infrastructure and the mechanisms of an independent country - an administration, an economy, a legal framework, rebuilding health clinics, schools, everything. So it's a very big job.''

Pro-Indonesia militias went on an orgy of killing and destruction in East Timor nearly two months ago after an overwhelming majority voted for independence from Indonesia, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the territory. Though tens of thousands have returned, thousands more remain in refugee camps in West Timor, which is under Indonesian jurisdiction. Security in East Timor is now maintained by a 7,500-strong multinational force led by Australia. But this contingent, which includes troops from Asian countries, is to be replaced by UN peacekeepers within the next two or three months.

The transfer of full authority in East Timor to the United Nations was formalized on Monday when the Security Council voted to set up an interim administrative authority called the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). Its mandate is to maintain law and order in the territory while setting up an effective administration to oversee political and social development.

''This World Bank mission is designed to come up with a fast framework for action,'' said Barret. ''On Monday we saw how UNTAET will be running East Timor for the next two or three years until the East Timorese are equipped to do it themselves. So in this period we have to achieve our basic goals in getting the country back on its feet.''

The results of the World Bank mission, which concludes in mid-November, will be presented to a donors' conference in Washington, scheduled for December. Barret believes that ''it's a test case for the international community because here we have a country that really needs to be rebuilt or reconstructed from the ground up, and if the international community can't get its act together and do what needs to be done then there's something amiss''.

Mario Carrascalao, who is also the vice-president of the National Council of Timorese Resistance, said the establishment of a Timorese economy will be slow but crucial for his country. ''We need the help of the international organizations because we don't have the means to reconstruct our country. We only have our will,'' said Carrascalao, who served as governor from 1982 to 1992 under Indonesian authority. He was appointed member of the seven-person Transitional Commission headed by East Timor resistance leader Xanana Gusmao - who is widely tipped to be East Timor's first president. The commission will work with UNTAET in running the territory before full independence.

Though the World Bank would not estimate the cost of rebuilding East Timor until the donors' conference, it has announced that a trust fund for grants will be set up to finance investments in development. This, said mission leader Klaus Rohland, is to allay fears from non-governmental organizations that East Timor will fall into a debt trap. ''Many NGOs are concerned that with World Bank involvement East Timor will be heavily in debt. But the bank is committed to funding the country on grant money for a minimum of three years at least. The World Bank has committed part of its net income to East Timor's reconstruction.''

Responding to criticism that multilateral donor agencies seldom involve the local population when assessing their aid needs, Barret said the East Timor World Bank mission would be different. ''Over the next three weeks the mission specialists will be involved in extensive consultation with the East Timorese. We are absolutely determined that they have ownership of whatever is done in their name. The East Timorese are an integral part of this mission - an integral part of the discussion and consultation that's going to take place in the next few weeks. They will ultimately be able to move to independence knowing that they have had ownership from the beginning.''

(Inter Press Service)

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