The Lao Hamutuk (Walking Together) journal is back after a break of 12 months. You can download the latest version (Vol. 8 No. 1) from : http://www.laohamutuk.org/Bulletin/2007/Mar/bulletinv8n1.html
There is quite a detailed report on the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund and also a bit of a spray for the proposed government pension plan.
And the printed form is available at Lita Supermarket and probably a few other places around town.
Yesterday, the Radio Australia “Connect Asia” programme did a piece on the work of Tricia Johns who has organised “Women’s Woven Art” to provide jobs for Timorese women.
Women’s Woven Art specialises in traditional and contemporary handicrafts, bags and homewares. The main selling point is that the material used is traditional Timorese “tais”.
The interview can be heard at : http://www.abc.net.au/ra/connectasia/stories/m1365439.asx
It is also an interesting case in that she has battled to put together a business which provides jobs for Timorese. I am not even sure she takes an income from it herself but because it is classified as a business, she is not eligible for aid funding. My guess is that if she had understood the “system”, she may have structured things differently. But at the end of the day, the business is growing and it has done it without hand-outs (apart from her own).
Early last year, Tricia was organising the occasional one-off stall and also selling stuff from the back of her car. She was battling. But at the time, the Hotel Timor was also struggling to make anything of its own hotel shop. It had little to sell and was closed most of the time.
Around the middle of last year, Tricia managed to strike an arrangement with the hotel to take over the shop and it now looks very active. The quality of the product has steadily improved and the range of products continually expanding.
One day, I will bite the bullet and arrange for a custom-made tais laptop bag, which should raise eyebrows in any big city in the western world.
For about 10 days, it has been relatively peaceful with no sign of the frenetic night-time rock fights. I have’nt heard anybody mention it much in that time. And I certainly have not heard anything to keep me awake at nights. I believe the OZ travel warnings have not been downgraded during this time.
Apart from the weekend air traffic which FOS over at XananaRepublic can describe better than me and some sort of ground operation on Sunday in the area behind the Backpackers (in parts, known as Farol, Palo Paso and Mandarin), I have heard nothing until yesterday. Again, FOS got an early inkling of things changing again with SMS warnings for the Bairo Pite, Banana Road and Comorro bridge areas. And if the UN have upped their staff security warnings, then I will take it that things are warming up again.
The published UN security reports talk of an incident on Monday night where 6 houses were torched in the Kuluhun Atas area. (I think this is just north of Taibesse.) Although it does not say, other information suggests there was shooting involved in that incident. And I heard yesterday of a shooting incident at the National Hospital IDP camp. The shots were not fired by international security forces.
With an armed F-FDTL (army) now operating in a static capacity at government buildings, its hard to know if they or the PNTL (police) were involved in the firing of guns. I have heard that F-FDTL do adopt a more flexible attitude to static security than UNPol prefer to be the case. (Note that F-FDTL operate independently from international forces while PNTL work with UNPol officers.)
So I guess the usual night-time warnings should still be heeded in the Bairo Pite, Banana Road and Comorro River bridge areas and we will see how all this develops over the next few days.
Meanwhile, have a look at the pictures over at XananaRepublic where FOS clearly would prefer a return to “beer and skittles”.
You would have had to be wired to your iPod all afternoon to miss yesterday’s chopper spectacular. I would think it was the biggest chopper display I have seen here since their arrival last year.
I couldn’t make head or tail of where they came from or where they were going to. If they were indeed circling, they must have been very big circles as they appeared from the east and disappeared towards the heliport then around by the hills. It went on for about 1/2 an hour – maybe centred around the Vila Verde/Colmera area with the occasional sprint down the esplanade. I counted 3 choppers but there could have been more.
I asked some Timorese if they knew of any trouble spot (they usually know) but no-one knew. I am none the wiser but it certainly was a spectacle with a fair bit of swooping, coming to a halt then speeding off again. Better than TV.
Otherwise, this last week has been very quiet and very wet.
Before de-stressing in the time honoured Friday evening fashion, another day seems to have (almost) passed without incident (of note).
If I had been compulsorily evacuated to Darwin, I would be wondering what gives.
Firstly, the heightening of security concerns was driven by :
So you shuffle off to Darwin with your 10kgs and wait … nothing. So I go running this morning … nothing. So I go cycling this afternoon … nothing. The tension on people’s faces … gone. What gives ?
Someone said one of today’s papers said whoever has been paying the gangs has run out of money. Could be.
Maybe the Rogerio Lobato verdict did hit the sweet spot and convince people that the justice system actually does work in the end. Although Lobato’s lawyer says the sentence is unfair (too long), another politician said it was also unfair (too short).
Maybe the return of armed F-FDTL to the streets has put the fear of god into people, because in the crunch, people believe they have weapons and will use them. I also noted armed UIR (PNTL rapid reaction force police) on the streets today. Keep all digits in rest position he tells himself … you are not at home.
Maybe the threat of a state of emergency and some interesting adjustments to police powers, threats of curfews and restrictions on civil liberties have done it.
Some think it is the calm before the storm. Time to de-stress. Tomorrow is a another day.
A note to the Darwin refugees – again !
I woke to a beautiful day in paradise. Quiet, peaceful, the last 48 hours the quietest this year. Went for a run this morning !! Yes, you heard right – me … run … morning. My body has been trained to operate at the cutting edge of relaxation in the mornings, building to a crescendo in the afternoon. The flab was getting to me and morning feels safer than evening.
No stonings over the last couple of days except for ruffians doing it on their day off. I guess the gangs must be “workshopping” at the moment.
No queue in the bank yesterday. Supermarkets well stocked, rice available ($5-70 per 5kg at Landmark last week). Restaurants taking a hit again.
Just enjoy the saltimbocca, a good movie and a few jars of Guinness while you have the opportunity. Melbourne Bitter and Worcestershire sauce is not quite the real thing.
A very good reference for the statistically minded is the pdf version of the printed booklet called : “Census of Population and Housing 2004 – ATLAS”.
This was published in September 2006. I saw the printed form and said “I want one of those”. Now a replica of the printed booklet is available at :
http://dne.mopf.gov.tl/latestrelease/Publications/ATLAS/ATLAS%20English.pdf
Forgive me if I am telling you how to suck eggs but I am sure I looked for it on the above web site about a month ago and I am sure it wasn’t there. It was a whole collection of separate links to parts of the document. The single pdf file download is 13Mbytes so patience is required if you are not in an internet cafe or a luxurious workplace in Dili. For those on real broadband, you will barely have time to blow your nose.
One detailed article on the rice shortage can be found at :
http://www.counterpunch.org/kammen03052007.html
I will admit to being wiser but not totally sorted on why.
I was pondering the 7.5 years sentence for Rogerio Lobato and wondered a few things. I wondered if it would be reduced on appeal – I guessed yes. I wondered if he would ever spend a day in Becora prison – I guessed no, home detention more likely. I wondered if an amnesty might be on the cards after the elections are done and dusted. I wondered if the poor health card would be played.
Does it mean he keeps his government provided house and all the trimmings ? What about his parliamentary salary ? Is he still a member of parliament ? Seven years in a government minister’s house on home detention would be like paradise for more than 90% of the population.
And if he goes, what about all the others that are probably implicated by the guilty verdict ?
Did everything go really quiet because of the verdict ? Has it hit the sweet spot that keeps all sides happy ?
I’m just asking the questions.
I have put on a few pounds over the last 2 weeks due to not enough moving about. I think I need more adrenalin, which I may have found if I had gone to Same with Fat Old Sod.
Not sure if this is hot off the press or not but I think ex-Minister for the Interior (ie amongst other things, in charge of the police) Rogerio Lobato was sentenced to 7 years this afternoon. One media report had said the maximum possible penalty for all charges was 35 years.
I think many people have been waiting for this announcement and it has been very quiet. When this sort of event occurs here, it can take a day or two for any backlash to become evident. So even if it is quiet again tonight, it could be Monday before one knows the true reaction from any unruly groups.
It has been raining most of the afternoon and the temperature is as cool as it gets here. Who knows if this will affect any immediate responses. Maybe by lunchtime tomorow, there will be a general feel amongst the majority.
The events of the last couple of days have culminated in the scheduled departure of a significant segment of the expat community. It is not only non-essential OZ embassy staff and families of staff members, but all OZ volunteers (AVI) and large groups working on AusAid projects. Most departures are elective with only some of them compulsory. UK and NZ have followed suit. The UN and UN volunteers have made no move as yet.
Many government departments are not really operating well as local staff are not showing up for work and a number of expats are choosing to leave. The Ministry of Education is a bit of a mess and suffering from looting, trashing and a bit of burning. An education ministry warehouse next to the main offices is a smouldering wreck with all contents burnt and the roof caved in. The F-FDTL are now guarding what remains of that warehouse and hopefully preventing further damage, which seems to have been limited to the bottom floor of the office complex.
I believe the Ministry of Agriculture has been disfunctional for some time (due to regular stoning of the building) and with the departure of many other expat capacity building staff, an awful lot of things may well go on hold for some time.
I think the last 2 nights were actually pretty quiet but car tyre burning and road barricading is still a feature and clearly evident in the morning. Of course, residents of Bairo Pite and Delta may disagree – I don’t know.
Movement seems fine during the morning period, but the expectation of trouble after dark seems to be visible from lunchtime on. Thats the feel anyway.
By next week, the expat scene may well be a shadow of its former self, although I admit I know nothing about what the Portuguese community is doing regarding leaving. It all really depends on whether the threats of violence actually take the next step. And it is the threats that are driving a lot of this situation.
I do feel sorry for some of those compelled to leave as it involves packing a bag of no more than 10kgs. Just think – laptop, backup drive, music player, personal papers, 2 pairs of underwear and only one sock. So you leave all of your other stuff and wonder just how long before you get back.
Note : I had trouble posting this yesterday when I fisrt wrote it.