East Timor News Digest 8 – August 1-31, 2013
- Domestic workers paid less than minimum wage - Dili Weekly. August 29, 2013
- Timorese pushback of Burmese refugees prompts unease, confusion - Irrawaddy. August 8, 2013
- PNTL to strengthen operations in conflict areas - Dili Weekly. August 19, 2013
- Organised crime in Timor-Leste responsible for rise in violence, says NGO - East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin. August 20, 2013
- Timor-Leste 'offers pipe cash' for Sunrise - Upstream Online. August 30, 2013
- East Timor makes new pitch on stalled Woodside gas project - Reuters. August 30, 2013
- Timeline: Australia and East Timor's struggle to develop Sunrise gas fields - Reuters. August 30, 2013
- The sun will rise over Woodside - Melbourne Age. August 24, 2013
- East Timor has electricity across almost its entire territory - Macauhub. August 22, 2013
- East Timor's oil fund totals US$13.6 billion in June 2013 - Macauhub. August 13, 2013
- East Timor's central bank wants to expand country's financial services - Macauhub. August 5, 2013
- Members of Parliament call for reflection on 30 August - Dili Weekly. August 29, 2013
- Timor-Leste: Finally getting it right? - S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). August 23, 2013
- Timor-Leste and Australia – Moving forward by acknowledging the past - Right Now. August 1, 2013
Domestic workers paid less than minimum wage
Dili Weekly - August 29, 2013
aulina Quintao – The Secretary of State for Professional Training Policy and Employment (SEPFOPE) has set the minimum wage at $115 per month but employers continue to pay domestic workers whatever they want.
The Working Women Centre suggests the government should control employers because they pay staff, especially domestic workers, below the minimum salary.
According the Advocacy Coordinator of the organization Working Women's Centre Helven Alberto Benio the government should have a good method of controlling those who employ workers, whether private or public, as many employers say they implement the minimum wage but don't actually.
"I think in regards to worker's salaries, the majority receive from $85 down to $35," said Coordinator Benio at a strategic plan discussion for the organization in Balide, Dili.
According to basic research the Working Women's Centre conducted in Dili, Oe-Cusse, Baucau and Ermera districts, the majority of domestic workers, including those who work in shops and restaurants, do not receive the minimum wage set by the government.
He added the problem of domestic workers was very complicated, as most worked without contracts. That's why he said they made an effort to advocate for workers, so employers would fulfil their duty to give contracts and workers will be paid based on the set salary.
On the other hand, SEPFOPE Director General Jacinto Barros Gusmao said he considered the problem of domestic workers to be very complicated and difficult to control, but they continued to hold inspections when they received complaints from workers.
He said employers paid workers without following standards set and violated the law, but this is the situation, and workers take salaries from $50 to $80 without a contract because they need the work.
"Some of our workers are difficult to control as they don't have any work, so some people come and lie about what they receive, so that's a problem we face," said Director General Gusmao.
Timorese pushback of Burmese refugees prompts unease, confusion
Irrawaddy - August 8, 2013
Simon Roughneen, Rangoon – Confusion remains over the recent refusal by the East Timor government to allow a group of 95 refugees, many of whom are Burmese Rohingya, to stay in the country.
The group, 99 in total including four crew members, landed in East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, on June 30, before being escorted several days later to a nearby Indonesian island by Timorese officials. The refugees are now being held at the Makassar Immigration Detention Center on Indonesia's Sulawesi island.
Vivian Tan, regional spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), said the East Timor government has not yet replied to its enquiries about the case, but clarified that not all of the 95 are Rohingya or Burmese. "The group seems to be a mix of people from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Indonesia," Tan told The Irrawaddy.
"We are 73 Rohingya refugees, 47 men, 10 women and 16 children. Most of us fled directly from Burma and some from Malaysia," said Rafi Zaw Win, in an e-mail to an NGO working on Rohingya issues that was seen by The Irrawaddy. The man is part of the group currently being held in Makassar, some of whom appear to have Internet access and cellphone connections.
An Australian international NGO worker who has visited the group at the Makassar IDC, but asked not to be named, told The Irrawaddy that "the conditions of the center are very difficult and it is overcrowded. I did not go inside, but was able to talk to women, children and men through the wired gates outside. The people that I spoke to were scared, confused and didn't understand their situation."
Also raising concerns about the Dili government's handling of the case are Timorese NGOs, a group of which signed off on a July 26 letter to Timorese lawmakers – including Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, a former political prisoner in Indonesia.
The NGOs say they have not received a reply from the Timorese government and, to highlight the case, subsequently published an English translation of the original letter, which was written in Tetum, the main language in East Timor.
Questions sent by The Irrawaddy to the prime minister's spokesman had not been replied to at time of writing.
In the letter, the NGOs accuse the government – a signatory to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees – of reneging on its obligations to the boat people. "Upon achieving independence for ourselves, we also acquired an obligation to provide solidarity to the people of other lands, who need our help as human beings," reads the letter to the government, which includes ministers who in the past were themselves refugees.
The letter reminds the government of the terms of the country's constitution, referring to a section that reads: "The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste shall grant political asylum, in accordance with the law, to foreigners persecuted as a result of their struggle for national and social liberation, defense of human rights, democracy and peace."
The pushback has caught the attention of civil society groups outside of East Timor. "Please note that Timor-Leste is a party to the Refugee Convention and, despite this, they expelled asylum seekers," Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, told The Irrawaddy
The HAK Association, a Timorese human rights organization and one of the NGO signatories, said it tried to speak to the group while they were in East Timor, but were prevented from doing so by Timorese police. "Members of PNTL [Timorese police] informed the team that they had received orders from the Prime Minister, which prohibited all people from carrying out interviews or taking photos," the letter to the government read.
Celestino Gusmao, researcher at La'o Hamutuk, a Dili-based development and economics research organization and one of the letter's signatories, told The Irrawaddy that the NGOs believe part of the reason for the government's actions was a lack of understanding of relevant laws and ensuing obligations. "We are using private channels to encourage the government to address this situation so that in the future such violations are not repeated," he said.
And while the Timorese government has not replied to the UNHCR or to local civil society groups, Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres said the refugees did not apply for asylum in East Timor, according to Timorese newspaper reports.
"On humanitarian grounds, we helped in the repair of the boat but none of them requested asylum to Timor-Leste. Then we escorted them to international waters and requested them to return to the place where they came from," said Guterres, who added that "if they had requested so, the governor would have done all the necessary action according to international conventions that we've ratified. The government and the people of East Timor have solidarity with those who are persecuted for political or religious reasons."
But according to Rafi Zaw Win, the group requested asylum on July 1 after landing on Timorese shores, after an attempt to reach Darwin in Australia, 400 kilometers south of East Timor, was scuppered due to engine trouble.
"On July 1, 2013, our boat came ashore in Island Bata village of East Timor and the villagers rescued and helped us and took us to their village's hall where we met Timorese police and I requested asylum to the police officers on behalf of 73 Burmese Rohingya refugees, but they told me that they could not consider our request for asylum in East Timor," he said.
The Rohingya are a Muslim people living mostly in western Burma's Arakan State. They are widely described by human rights groups as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. Two bouts of sectarian violence in Arakan State between Muslims, including Rohingya, and Buddhist Arakanese in 2012 has left about 100,000 Rohingya in squalid temporary camps, with thousands more seeking to flee the region to Thailand, Malaysia and beyond. "We do believe that the government of Timor-Leste violated the rights of those Rohingya who came here, we didn't treat them as people, and sent them into international waters," Manuel Monteiro Fernandes, acting director at the HAK Association, told The Irrawaddy.
PNTL to strengthen operations in conflict areas
Dili Weekly - August 19, 2013
The Dili District Police Commander Pedro Belo said the police will carry out stronger operations in neighbourhoods that are at risk of conflict within Dili.
Commander Belo said operations would be held in neighbourhoods based on a resolution the government sent to the Commander of the Timor-Leste National Police (PNTL).
"We will hold a stronger operations in neighbourhoods like Becora Temporal and others," said Commander Belo while the former Hotel Resende was being demolished in Dili.
The operation relates to confrontations that continue to occur in some neighbourhoods, so Commander Belo said they would firmly execute the government resolution given to police command.
"We continue to execute this for groups that have plans to disturb the peace in Dili," he said.
Meanwhile Member of Parliament Cesar Valente de Jesus said the conflict that continued to occur is not a martial arts problem but an urban problem.
"I have repeatedly said that this is considered urban violence, where one group attacks another group, a village attacks another village, it's not martial arts," said the CNRT MP.
Therefore he called on the PNTL to hold routine operations at night so Dili would be peaceful.
On the other hand, Becora resident Jose Soares said a group of youths had a confrontation and threw rocks on July 14. "There was a lot of noise last night, as people in Becora Au-hun and the Becora Market threw rocks at each other," said Soares.
He said a man was injured as a result of the rock throwing. "Last night they attacked each other and a friend from Baucau-Laga was injured," said Soares. In regards to the motive of these two groups, Soares said he did not know.
Organised crime in Timor-Leste responsible for rise in violence, says NGO
East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin - August 20, 2013
Security sectory monitoring NGO, Fundasaun Mahein says that "the recent increase in violence and crime in Timor-Leste reflects a growing effort by organized crime to recruit Timorese for participation in illegal activities.
Timorese citizens of all backgrounds are turning towards organised crime in the midst of an economy that leaves them little hope or opportunity. The groups most heavily recruited from include government employees, taxi drivers, gang members, security guards on the border, and airport security guards and personnel.
The increased presence of organized crime within Timor-Leste has been marked by an increase in theft, murder, and sexual assault. Sexual assault in particular has been marked by two recent high-profile cases. A young man and woman were recently kidnapped in Tasi-Tolu and forced to perform sexual acts while being filmed.
In a separate event, a woman taking a taxi near the US embassy was abducted and gang-raped. These cases highlight the disturbing rise of violent incidents in Timor-Leste in which both the perpetrators and victims are Timorese.
The Timorese economy is stagnating and Timorese have fewer places to turn for career opportunities. With inflation rising, high unemployment, low salaries for government workers, and minimal government oversight of criminal activity, the temptation to participate in organized is too attractive for many Timorese to resist.
What incentive do Timorese have to make honest livings when the reward for participating in organized criminal activities can be so much more lucrative? If the government does not focus its efforts on a preventative framework to fight the underlying causes of Timorese involvement in organized crime, the problem will never be resolved.
Furthermore, why should only one government ministry be responsible for combating this problem when the causes behind the rise in organized crime are so widespread and diverse?
Fundasaun Mahein urges various government departments to unite in fighting this important and growing problem. The ministry of Defense should collaborate with the ministries of Social Solidarity, Labor, Education, Youth and Sports, State Secretary for Women and Equality, as well as others.
Fundasaun Mahein recommends that people travel in groups and exercise extreme caution when traveling through areas associated with organized criminal operations. These areas include Dili Beach Road, Liquica up to Tiber, the beach of Tasi-Tolu, and the area from Area Branca all the way up to Metinaro (One Dollar Beach). Criminals have mainly targeted young couples or single women passing through or sitting in these areas, but it should be noted that anyone passing through could be a potential target.
Fundasaun Mahein also recommends that police increase their presence and visibility in these areas with regular patrols and monitoring. If people encounter trouble they should notify the police immediately.
Finally, more stringent monitoring of people traveling in and out of Timor-Leste is needed to crack down on travelers conducting operations for organized crime. The increasing number of Timorese students studying in Indonesia involved in smuggling stolen motorbikes into Timor is just one example of organized crime's presence along Timor's border. As part of this effort, the departments of Immigration and Foreign Affairs should work together to conduct more effective background checks of people traveling to work in Timor-Leste on tourist visas.
[Source: Fundasaun Mahein (FM) Press Release 15 August 2013.]
Timor-Leste 'offers pipe cash' for Sunrise
Upstream Online - August 30, 2013
Timor-Leste is reported to be offering to bankroll construction of a new pipeline to export gas from the Timor Sea in a renewed effort to kick-start Woodside Petroleum's stalled Greater Sunrise project.
The scheme remains in limbo as Woodside is seeking to exploit the field using floating liquefaction, which it considers most economical, while the tiny nation remains opposed to any development concept that does not include feeding an onshore liquefied natural gas plant on its southern coast.
Secretary of State for Natural Resources Alfredo Pires said Dili is prepared to invest $800 million in a pipeline to help move things forward, using funds from its $14 billion Petroleum Fund, according to Reuters.
"It's an indication of our willingness to take on some of the risks of the project," Pires said, adding it would be a commercial investment and could return around 7%, above the 2% to 3% the fund is currently seeing.
Soaring costs and the prospect of competition from US shale gas to supply Asia customers have already threatened the future of a number of LNG projects around Australia.
Woodside has previously estimated that an onshore plant in Timor-Leste would add as much as $5 billion to analysts' $12 billion cost forecast to develop the fields using floating LNG.
East Timor says a project using an onshore plant would cost $12 billion to $13 billion and that floating LNG faces a greater risk of cost blowouts because it is a new technology.
The Greater Sunrise fields were discovered in the mid-1970s and contain estimated contingent reserves of 5.13 trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 226 million barrels of condensate.
Woodside declined to comment on Pires' offer to invest in a pipeline, pointing to an earlier statement from the Australian independent that it remained committed to developing Greater Sunrise.
"We value our relationships with the Timor-Leste and Australian governments, and seek tripartite alignment to allow the timely development of this resource for the benefit of all stakeholders," it stated.
The latest gambit by the tiny nation is though unlikely to lead to a breakthrough in the project, partly because of its recently launched legal action challenging the validity of the Timor Sea treaty, according to industry insiders.
Timor-Leste claims Australia engaged in espionage during 2006 talks on the treaty's Certain Maritime Arrangements that sets out the fiscal framework for development of such schemes.
The pending litigation throws a further spanner in the works as it requires arbitration between both governments that could lead to a renegotiation of the treaty terms and further delay a decision on the project.
East Timor makes new pitch on stalled Woodside gas project
Reuters - August 30, 2013
Rebekah Kebede, Perth – East Timor is offering to invest $800 million to build a pipeline to take gas from the Timor Sea to the tiny nation, as it makes a new pitch to resolve a dispute with Australia's Woodside Petroleum over how to develop huge fields in the area.
East Timor has insisted for a decade that a liquefied natural gas plant to process gas from the Greater Sunrise fields should be built on its shores, bringing with it much-needed development. Woodside says the plan is uneconomical and wants to use a floating LNG plant.
Industry insiders say the chance of a near-term breakthrough remains slim, despite the new gambit. That is partly because East Timor also wants to unpick a revenue-sharing agreement after accusing Australia of engaging in espionage when the treaty was struck.
Australia will not confirm or deny the allegations, but has said the accusation is not new.
East Timor has filed for arbitration and if it overturns the treaty, it could open up discussions on a disputed maritime border, risking further delays to the project.
East Timor Secretary of State for Natural Resources Alfredo Pires said Dili is prepared to invest $800 million in a pipeline to help move things forward, using funds from its $14 billion Petroleum Fund.
"It's an indication of our willingness to take on some of the risks of the project," Pires said by telephone, adding it would be a commercial investment and could return around 7 percent, above the 2 to 3 percent the fund is currently seeing.
Soaring costs and the prospect of competition from US shale gas to supply Asia customers have already threatened the future of a number of LNG projects around Australia.
Woodside has previously estimated that an onshore plant in East Timor would add as much as $5 billion to analysts' $12 billion cost forecast to develop the fields using floating LNG.
East Timor says a project using an onshore plant would cost $12-$13 billion and that floating LNG faces a greater risk of cost blowouts because it is a new technology.
Woodside declined to comment on Pires' offer to invest in a pipeline, pointing to an earlier statement from the firm that it remained committed to developing Greater Sunrise.
"We value our relationships with the Timor-Leste (East Timor) and Australian governments, and seek tripartite alignment to allow the timely development of this resource for the benefit of all stakeholders."
Closing window
Six months ago, Woodside said there could be a window of opportunity for a decision to develop the project in 2013 and analysts still saw the project coming online in 2018.
But in a recent speech to investors arranged by UBS Woodside's chief Peter Coleman showcased its most prospective projects and Sunrise was the only big development not mentioned.
"There is logic to the fact that it wasn't mentioned and therefore in their eyes it ranks behind a lot of the other projects they have on their slate," John Hirjee, an analyst with Deutsche Bank in Melbourne said.
At its results briefing last week, Woodside put Sunrise at the end of a list of around 10 developments, with initial design work for the project beginning of 2016.
In the last year, Woodside has cast a wide net for new projects, committing to buying a 30 percent stake in Israel's Leviathan gas development, joining an exploration venture with South Korea's Daewoo International Corp in Myanmar, and buying into a project in Ireland.
Woodside has already invested several hundreds of millions of dollars in drilling exploration at Sunrise but some analysts doubt it will spend more.
"Woodside's not going to spend another dollar on it," said Peter Strachan, an analyst with Stock Analysis in Perth.
Alternatives
East Timor's insistence on bringing gas to shore has bewildered some industry watchers who say that the benefits of an onshore site would be marginal for fields estimated to contain more than 5 trillion cubic feet of gas.
"From a strictly financial point of view, it's hard for us to understand why the government is so determined to bring the pipeline here," Charles Scheiner, a researcher with La'o Hamutuk, an independent Dili-based research firm.
But an onshore plant has become a unifying cause in Asia's youngest nation, with consensus across political parties.
In past years, East Timor has threatened to pursue other development partners, such as Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas, and Pires says that there remains plenty of interest. "We'll have no shortage of interest if anyone wants to leave. There will be others who will jump in," Pires said.
Timeline: Australia and East Timor's struggle to develop Sunrise gas fields
Reuters - August 30, 2013
East Timor is offering to invest $800 million to build a pipeline to take gas from the Timor Sea to the tiny nation, as it makes a new pitch to resolve a dispute with Australia's Woodside Petroleum over how to develop huge fields in the area.
Below is a timeline of some key events involving the Greater Sunrise project
1972: Australia and Indonesia agree on a maritime boundary based on what Canberra says is the edge of its continental shelf. Portuguese-controlled East Timor does not accept this boundary. 1974 The Sunrise and Troubadour gas fields are discovered in the Timor Sea between the two. They estimated to contain 5.13 trillion cubic feet of dry gas, 225.9 million barrels of condensate and are collectively known as the Greater Sunrise gas fields.
1975: Indonesia invades East Timor, occupies it until 1999.
1982: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea finalised, favors delineation of sea boundaries at the midline between two countries.
March: Australia does not accept provisions under the 2002 convention that would subject it to compulsary dispute resolution for sea boundary disputes.
May: East Timor becomes independent.
2002-2003: East Timor signs contracts with Woodside and JV partners for Sunrise project development.
2003: Timor Sea Treaty comes into force. The treaty establishes the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA), a region with overlapping claims from Australia and East Timor. Under the treaty, East Timor receives 90 percent of revenues from oil and gas resources developed in the area, while Australia gets the rest.
2007; International Unitisation Agreement on Sunrise (IUA) and Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS) comes into force.
The IUA established that only 20 percent of the Greater Sunrise fields fall in the JPDA and allots 80 percent of the Greater Sunrise fields to Australia. Under IUA, East Timor would have received only around 18 percent of revenues from Sunrise fields.
CMATS splits the revenue from the Sunrise fields 50-50 and implements a gag rule that prevents Australia and East Timor from discussing their disputed maritime boundary.
Feb. As of this month, CMATS allows for unilateral 2013 suspension of the agreement if Sunrise fields not developed.
April: East Timor files for arbitration, alleging that 2013 Australia engaged in espionage during negotiations for CMATS, making the treaty invalid. Australia will not confirm or deny the allegations, but has said the accusation is not new.
2024: East Timor largest producing field, Bayu Undan, expected to run dry.
[Sources: Australia Legal Information Institute, La'o Hamutuk, Australian government websites, East Timor government, United Nations website, International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea webiste, and Woodside Petroleum. Reporting by Rebekah Kebede; Editing by Ed Davies.]
The sun will rise over Woodside
Melbourne Age - August 24, 2013
Brian Robins – Woodside's decision to opt for an offshore solution to develop the Browse Basin gasfield off north-west of Australia threatens to delay further any prospective development of the huge Greater Sunrise field, which lies between Australia and East Timor.
The Timor government has been pushing for an onshore processing facility as part of a Sunrise development. But competition from new exporters in North America and east Africa over the next decade will probably force the partners in Greater Sunrise to opt for a low-cost development if it is to get off the ground.
Woodside holds a third interest in Greater Sunrise, which includes the Troubadour reserves. Development is awaiting finalisation of arbitration between Australia and East Timor over revenue sharing before partners resume talks for the project.
Earlier this week, Woodside confirmed it hopes to develop Browse using floating vessels to process the gas, rather than establish an onshore plant, since it will be significantly cheaper. Between two and four vessels are expected to be used, which will be owned by the joint venture. Shell, which developed the technology, will receive an upfront payment per vessel.
The first gas is expected to flow from Browse by the end of the decade, while any development of the Greater Sunrise project is unlikely to move forward for at least another year or two.
Before then, there is the possibility of the Leviathan project in Israel progressing, although its status will be unclear for at least the next few months, pending court decisions, and ongoing political wrangling over how much of the gas needs to be set aside for the domestic market.
As well, partners in this project have recently touted piping gas to Turkey, which may undercut Woodside's interest in taking part. But the looming competition from new suppliers in the liquified gas market is forcing developers to rethink their approach.
"The lowest-cost supplier will get into the marketplace," Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman says. "The floating LNG option for Browse allows us to change the cost structure. We think it has a 35 to 50 per cent cost advantage over a land-based development.
"That allows us to get down to a point where we are competitive with other sources of supply, so it takes a little bit of heat off the marketing side, since it gives you room to move."
That flexibility will be increasingly important as north American and east African projects move forward, since both sets of supplier are targeting Asian sales.
And then there is Russia, the sleeper in the market. Sakhalin, north of Japan, already supplies about 10 per cent of Japan's gas needs and about 5 per cent of South Korea's. As well, Russia wants to supply gas from stranded fields in Siberia to China, although progress has been limited.
At some point, many of the sticking points will be resolved, which will provide an added source of competition for exporters to north Asia, at a time when north American exports are on the rise thanks to the US shale revolution.
"US supplies may be low priced, [but] they won't be cheap when you look at the value-add cost, transportation cost to get US supplies into Japan. At $US4 Henry Hub equivalent price [for the US domestic market], it is probably a $US13 landed price in Japan, or thereabouts," Coleman says.
"That's not cheap. That may be lower [than the present market price], but that's not cheap, by any means. Henry Hub [gas] has a lower heating value, so there's still questions in our mind as to how much the US can feed into Japanese markets." Even so, to blunt any competitive threat the focus is on using floating facilities to slash supply costs.
"FLNG [floating liquified natural gas] has advantages for remote resources that require establishment of significant onshore infrastructure," Coleman says.
"The days of the big onshore plant in remote sites are being challenged, unless it is for super mega fields, and we haven't had one of those for a long time. LNG technology has had really only one business solution for the better part of three decades – a large onshore plant with large tankage facilities being supplied by an onshore or offshore resource. FLNG allows us to fundamentally change the business model. We've got more [options] now."
This technological solution will be especially useful in ensuring the long delayed Greater Sunrise project makes it to the starting block, from Woodside's perspective, at least.
"Floating [LNG] technology for Sunrise will be derisked" once Browse is operational, Coleman says. "Any project has its time, and Sunrise is not quite there, because there are matters that need to be resolved between governments.
"Once we can resolve those, then the right development concept can be discussed – and technology is moving on."
East Timor has electricity across almost its entire territory
Macauhub - August 22, 2013
Supplying electricity to the whole of Timor-Leste (East Timor) was almost achieved Tuesday with the inauguration of the Betano power plant, some 90 kilometres south of Dili, said the Timorese secretary of state for Electricity.
Januario Pereira told Portuguese news agency Lusa that amongst the 13 sub- districts that had yet to receive an electricity supply, was Atauro island, which belongs to the district of Dili, and that it would be supplied with electricity via an undersea cable.
The secretary of state for Electricity added that in order to supply the Oecussi enclave with electricity a power station would be built.
The Hera power plant (opened in November 2012 to supply the north coast) and now the Betano plant, to supply the south coast, were both built by the China Nuclear Industry 22nd Construction Company (CNI22).
The contract signed in 2008, worth US$360 million, also included construction of 10 sub-stations and expansion of the power grid via new high voltage lines totalling 750 kilometres. (macauhub)
East Timor's oil fund totals US$13.6 billion in June 2013
Macauhub - August 13, 2013
East Timor's Oil Fund totalled US$13.6 billion at the end of June, which was a rise of US$796 million against the first quarter of the year, according to figures published by the East Timor Central Bank for the second quarter of 2013.
According to the document published by the Central Bank, "gross capital inflows into the fund from royalties and taxes totalled US$796 million," and capital increased to US$13.6 billion. The Oil Fund Law was outlined in 2005 in order to contribute to the effective management of East Timor's oil resources.
The fund is managed by the East Timor Central Bank, which is responsible for its operational management, and the Finance Ministry, which is responsible for overall management. (macauhub)
East Timor's central bank wants to expand country's financial services
Macauhub - August 5, 2013
The Timor-Leste (East Timor) Central Bank Friday announced a project to develop a strategic plan to expand the country's financial services with a view to reaching more of its citizens.
"The aim of the project is to develop, together with stakeholders, a strategic plan for East Timor's financial system, taking into account that the country is moving towards an economy that encourages national and international investment and provide a greater number of citizens access to financial services," said the statement.
According to the Central Bank's statement, the project will take 10 years to implement and will include "concrete actions that allow the financial system to be a catalyst for economic growth." (macauhub)
Members of Parliament call for reflection on 30 August
Dili Weekly - August 29, 2013
Ezequiel Freitas – Fretilin bench MP Leonel Marcal said on 30 August 1999, 14 years ago, all Timorese closed their homes and went out to vote and changed the course of their destiny.
"We must all reflect on this and think that independence did not fall from the sky or was given to us for free. We all fought for independence, many suffered and many lost their lives," said MP Marcal at the National Parliament.
Meanwhile Democratic Party MP Paulino Monteiro said 30 August was a day of victory for Timor-Leste.
"We have to celebrate this day. During the hard times we all went together, walking with one another to go and vote so that in the end the majority voted and won," said MP Monteiro.
He added this was an important day to teach new generations the significance of the Referendum vote that led to the independence of the country.
"My message is this; we must all be proud of this day because on this historical day we delivered ourselves and got our independence."
Meanwhile the Minister for State Administration (MAE), Jorge Teme, said even though there wasn't going to be a rising of the flag ceremony, many other activities were planned to commemorate the day.
He said activities included a general clean up of the capital on 29 August from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and on 30 August a healthy march from the Government Palace to the An'nur Mosque, Dili.
"We will then come back and listen to a message from our leader the Prime Minister [Xanana Gusmao]," said Minister Teme.
He added other commemorative events include entertainment, traditional dances from groups from the four sub-districts of Dili and the drawing of raffles.
Timor-Leste: Finally getting it right?
S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) - August 23, 2013
Loro Horta – Following the July 2012 elections Timor-Leste formed one of the largest governments in the region made up of 57 cabinet members. This has led to serious mismanagement, corruption and a state of near anarchy. A year later, the country's leadership is addressing its predicament.
Timor-Leste's government has been sliding quickly to a state of disarray with corruption and mismanagement becoming systemic. While the country has been receiving substantial revenues from gas and oil to the tune of US$2 billion a year, most of this wealth has been squandered by incompetence and misappropriation.
Late payment of salaries is the rule in the country with public servants ranging from teachers to police officers going for months without pay. Even the hundreds of foreign advisers have gone for months without salary. For instance a former adviser to the President received no pay for a year. Several hospitals in the region including Singapore's Gleneagles have stopped accepting letters of guarantee from the Timorese government due to large amounts in unpaid bills.
Blinded by politics
The irony is that the country has more than enough money in its coffers. However, its incompetent and corrupt bureaucracy makes budget execution dismal. The majority of government ministries are unable to execute more than one third of their yearly budgets.
Even this small disbursement is usually for overseas trips, with the people referring to the government as the "frequent flyers" administration. The most notorious of the frequent flying minister is Foreign Affairs Minister Joze Luis Guterres. His frequent trips abroad led to the bizarre situation in which several diplomats have threatened to create a union of diplomats and go on strike.
The main cause of this bloated and ineffective government has been the deep division and sometimes personal feud between Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, the founding father of the country, and Fretilin, the country's party that played a central role in the fight for independence.
Fretilin won the first post-independence election comfortably, while Gusmao, despite Fretilin opposition, was elected president with 89 percent of the votes. Following the 2006 crisis that nearly led to state collapse and a second United Nations intervention, the country's politics became extremely polarised between pro-Gusmao and pro-Fretilin forces.
As a result the country's founding father and its largest and most disciplined party were unwilling to work together, focusing instead on undermining one another. The most competent people in the country are to be found among independents and Fretilin. However, the polarisation of politics excluded them from government with even minor officials like rural clerks being fired on political grounds. To make up for his lack of qualified cadres due to the exclusion of Fretilin, Gusmao resorted to recruiting many ministers of dubious backgrounds.
Fixing the mess
Many in Timor including the author had on several occasions argued that there could only be stability if Fretilin led by Mari Alkatiri, Gusmao and the other leading political personality, Ramos Horta, worked together. As noted by the outspoken Bishop of Bacau: "If these three senhores (Gusmao, Alkatiri and Horta) could behave like adults so many of our problems would be gone."
In recent weeks there have been some signs that Timor's historical leaders are finally trying to form a national unity government. During a visit to Singapore Prime Minister Gusmao recognised the serious challenges facing his nation. Upon his return to Timor he bravely declared that the government was in a state of disarray with many ministers unable to implement their generous budgets. He then promised a serious government reshuffle in September and the abolition of several ministries. Fretilin has responded positively, supporting several government initiatives in parliament.
The ministers expected to be replaced are those for state administration, justice, tourism, agriculture, and foreign affairs. If the reshuffle and portfolio reduction plan go ahead, it will be a major step in addressing Timor's state of disarray and greatly improve its image.
Having a minister of justice who refused to pay child support to a sick child is not the best postcard of a country. Not to mention others who have been convicted of domestic violence and sexual assault.
While no-one could ever take away Xanana Gusmao's legacy as a heroic freedom fighter and his vital role in reconciling his country with Indonesia, his track record as a manager is rather more modest. However, his brave move to accept his failures and reach out to Fretilin is a reflection of his great character and reminds Timorese of his great achievements. Timor's leaders, hopefully, are finally coming to terms with each other.
[Loro Horta is a graduate of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. He was the United Nations National Project Manager for Security Sector Reform in Timor-Leste and a former adviser to the country's foreign ministry.]
Timor-Leste and Australia – Moving forward by acknowledging the past
Right Now - August 1, 2013
Jess O'Callaghan – More than decade on from when Timor-Leste gained independence, and six month since troops left the country, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bob Carr has initiated an inquiry into the relationship between the young nation, one hour's flight from Darwin, and Australia. With the inquiry looking optimistically to the future, there are some who fear it could overlook the past.
"The reason I talked about the Missing Persons Centre is that Timor suffered the largest loss of life relative to total population since the Holocaust," explains Dr Clinton Fernandes, an expert in international relations and politics from UNSW.
"That's uncontroversial, the loss of life that occurred there. And many want to know what happened to their loved ones. People died in the mountains, people died in refugee-type camps, people died because they were abducted, tortured and then buried in a mass grave elsewhere, and so it's necessary I think to go and find these people because their families are getting old and they want to know what happened and where their loved ones are buried."
When the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) withdrew in December 2012, it wasn't only the peacekeeping mission that ended. Uncompleted investigations into 60 cases of serious human rights violations also came to a close.
The end of Serious Crimes Investigation Team's (SCIT) mandate is only the latest setback in a series of attempts over the past decade to investigate and prosecute the human rights violations that occurred in Timor-Leste during the Indonesian occupation. Until 2005, the process was led by the Timor-Leste Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR). Serious Crimes Cases, including murder, rape and torture, were investigated by CAVR and forwarded to the Serious Crimes Unit of the Prosecutor- General's Office. In 2006, this process was replaced by SCIT, and in early 2008, they began assisting the Prosecutor General's Office with outstanding offences.
Timor-Leste voted in a referendum to become independent from Indonesia in 1999. After becoming briefly independent from Portugal in 1975, the nation was annexed by Indonesia. The period between 1975 and 1999 saw human rights violations on a massive scale. The exact number Timorese killed during the occupation varies, but it is accepted that up to 180,000 out of a population of around 650,000 died as a result of the occupation. The struggle for independence played out against a Cold War backdrop and Suharto's leadership in Indonesia.
Between 2008-2012 SCIT focused solely on the serious crimes involved in the 1999 violence which followed the referendum for independence. It's estimated that between August 20 and October 12 1999, 1400 were killed and 400,000 displaced or forcibly removed to West Timor, and 60-80% of all public and private property was destroyed.
There is yet to be an international tribunal for prosecuting war crimes, despite many recommendations since 2000 that such a process is needed to provide justice for victims and facilitate reconciliation between Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The UN International Commission Inquiry in January 2000 also recommended establishing an international investigative body and tribunal, but it was decided – based on assurances from Indonesia that it intended to pursue justice further – that it could proceed at a bilateral level.
An ad-hoc Human Rights Court in Indonesia saw 18 people indicted for war crimes and 18 people acquitted. In 2005, a UN Commission of Experts recommended that if progress was not achieved through a bilateral approach to prosecuting serious crimes that the Security Council adopt a resolution to create an ad hoc international. They estimated that between 1975 and criminal tribunal for Timor-Leste, to be located in a third state. The commission estimated that between 1975 and 1999 18,600 civilians were killed or disappeared, with a further 84,200 dying of starvation or illness as a direct result of the conflict.
That same year, Indonesia and Timor-Leste changed their approach to a process focused on reconciliation rather than prosecution. Together they established the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) with a mandate to reveal the "conclusive truth" about the Indonesian occupation. It had the power to investigate and grant amnesties, and no power to prosecute.
On February 6, 2013, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bob Carr asked the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade to hold an inquiry into the relationship between Australia and Timor-Leste. The inquiry was directed a number of issues: bilateral relations at the parliamentary and government level; aid and economic issues; cultural, educational and scientific relations; links between people and community groups in Timor- Leste with those in Australia; defence cooperation, and regional security.
This is the first inquiry into our relationship with East Timor since a Senate inquiry in December 2000. Evidence provided at that time suggested that somewhere between 120,000 and 200,000 East Timorese lives were lost as a result of the Indonesian occupation, and there is an entire chapter of the committee's final report dedicated to human rights in East Timor, including a subsection titled "Holding account those responsible for crimes".
Despite the unresolved issues in Timor-Leste's past, and Australia's murky complicity in many aspects of the human rights violations that occurred over the 25 years of Indonesian occupation, the inquiry looks firmly to the future. It is optimistic in its exploration of the Timor Sea Treaty, oil and gas field development, food aid and worker exchange programs. Of the 72 submissions received, only a few address projects or problems related to the investigation of war crimes, or achieving justice for victims of human rights abuses and families of victims who live in Timor-Leste. Of those few who did, none were invited to testify in the hearings.
Human rights dialogue in Timor-Leste has been framed through the lens of international aid, focused on food aid and worker programs. Despite the issue of war crimes not having been settled in any manner satisfactory to international standards, the framework of the 2000 inquiry has been discarded. The CAVR report recommended providing reparations to victims and their families and taking effective measures to identify victims of forced disappearance and separation from their families. In February 2012, the Timor-Leste parliament began debating two draft laws, establishing a Public Memory Institute and a national reparations scheme. Both were postponed for the third time since June 2010, with no date set for the debate to resume.
A 2012 Amnesty International Report "Timor-Leste: Remembering the Past" addresses the issues surrounding the implementation of these two proposals, including seeking financial contributions from Indonesia for reparations and international support from the UN Security Council noting that the East Timorese government is yet to do so. It also notes that while victims, their families and civil society organisations in Timor-Leste continue to advocate for justice and reparations, any attempts so far have been weak and ineffective.
This is a sentiment echoed by a submission to the inquiry from James Dunn, a former Australian consul in Timor-Leste who wrote a definitive book on the occupation in the mid-1980s and served as a UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) expert on crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste in 2001.
"It is of course a difficult case for the Australian Government, which has been carefully nurturing our relations with Jakarta, but it is in Australia's long term national interest that the matter be dealt with," writes Dunn in the submission, which focuses on a "More Satisfactory Settlement of the War Crimes Issue".
Dunn explains the danger in not settling the war crimes issue properly. "I think it is forcing into the psyche of East Timor certain bitterness to Indonesia for what transpired in the past and for the failure to be acknowledged." While the governments of Timor-Leste, Indonesia and Australia have a stubborn focus on ignoring the past in favour of the present, Dunn says they are also ignoring that "this is really about the present too. It's under the social fabric of East Timor, not only the fact these terrible things happened, but that there was no justice, no apology, nothing."
Another submission is from Dr Clinton Fernandes and Dr Soren Blau, a Senior Forensic Anthropologist at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. They suggest that Australia fund a Missing Persons Identification Centre to assist in training East Timorese forensic anthropologists to locate and identify those who went missing during the occupation. "It's almost like there's a complete vow of silence on the major human rights violation that occurred in our region, in the last thirty years" says Dr Fernandes. "[N]amely, the genocide in Timor. And so that focus is what that centre of identification would give."
There have also been efforts at a non-governmental level to record the testimonies of those who were made victims of the Indonesian occupation, if not for the administration of justice, then for the historical record. The Living Memory Project began collecting the testimonies of former political prisoners in 2005. Managed by Australian journalist Jill Jolliffe (whose extensive work in Timor-Leste included writing Balibo, an account of the Australian journalists killed during the Indonesian invasion in 1975), the project filmed 52 interviews, 13 of which are archived online at the Southeast Asia Digital Video Archive.
The interviews are jarring; the honesty of the retelling often shocks the viewer into confronting the reality of the conflict. Armandina Maria Gusmao, community leader and human rights advocate, recalls her initial disbelief at the invasion and the investigation and her imprisonment that followed. In 1975, she explains, she was still a student, living with some of her siblings in Dili, her father visiting to attend a course in the city.
"It was getting light, when we saw many planes, one after another, and the parachutes and paratroopers descending. Each plane that passed dropped, it seemed like, I don't know, mushrooms, falling from the sky... what we didn't understand was that it was an invasion."
More testimony comes from Rosa Pereira de Rego, who was seven months pregnant when she was arrested in June 1976, accused of aiding resistance guerrillas. Most of those filmed experienced torture during the occupation, and the project aims to bring their experiences to future generations in Timor-Leste, as well as the international community.
Despite projects like this, and the roles Australian's like Joliffee, Dr Blau and Dr Fernandes play in facilitating them, officially the Timor-Leste and Australian governments do little to acknowledge the need to remember the past.
The Australian government and Timor-Leste have an interest in moving forward. But to do so without proper settlement of past human rights violations denies justice to the victims and their families, and, as James Dunn points out, has a broader effect on international relations: "Justice is important, but in a very pragmatic sense, perhaps even more important is the full acknowledgement of wrongs that are unacceptable in modern global society."
To examine Australia and Timor-Leste while ignoring the human rights context beyond the past decade is to miss important aspects of an important relationship, and proceed into the future on the shaky premise that the past is settled and dealt with. "It's not about reopening something. It's about closing it, decently," Dunn says.
[Jess O'Callaghan is finishing a Media and Communications degree, producing podcasts and writing about politics.]