East Timor people's 'indefatigable spirit'
By Peter Johnston
DILI — On arriving in East Timor, one is struck by how little has been repaired in the months since the militia destruction. Very few buildings were not damaged in the post-referendum, Jakarta-sponsored orgy of violence and looting. Most remain in ruins.
Whole families are living in shelters that are no more than a few sheets of rusty and twisted corrugated iron, leaning on flimsy wooden frames. Some accommodation is just a few sheets of tarpaulin stretched over pieces of timber.
In and beyond Dili, a scattering of UN-stamped tarpaulins and tents are virtually the only tangible evidence of international aid. A few buildings have been carefully repaired or rebuilt, but these are occupied either by one of the many non-governmental organisations, the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAET) or by wealthy East Timorese.
A large and spirited market has been re-established in Dili, where there is a variety of fresh produce available and a range of goods imported from Indonesia. But according to an Indonesian companion, the imported goods are priced at two to four times what they would sell for in Indonesia. Due to the lack of transportation and housing, at night the market becomes a tarpaulin-covered ghetto — without sewerage, water, or electricity — where stall-holders live and sleep.
A number of cafes and restaurants have opened, but it is rare to see East Timorese eating there. A meal in one of them typically costs more than the daily wage paid to the few East Timorese lucky enough to work.
Much of the population remains without access to safe drinking water, and electricity has not been restored in many parts of the country. A UN Security Council report issued in January estimates that 80% of the population is "without visible means of support".
Employment
The few with jobs are grateful for it, but there is increasing disquiet over the very low wages paid to East Timorese workers. In contrast, foreigners are paid First World wages, often with a bonuses — and tax free.
Of the $522 million pledged to East Timor by the World Bank and the UN at a meeting in Tokyo in December, much has not materialised. The UN report contains an abundance of statements about what will be done, but in terms of what has actually been done to rebuild East Timor after almost half a year, the report is evasive and non-specific. The report does note, however, that if conditions do not to improve soon, social unrest is likely.
The graffiti that covers the walls of Dili is both a history of the turbulent recent past, and as the voice of a people largely deprived of any means to express themselves. Pro-independence graffiti predominates, and a sense of humour pervades some of the slogans. Some graffiti thanked Interfet for helping East Timor. The demand for "Otonomi" is visible in some places, and I saw a couple of messages threatening Xanana Gusmao with death if he returned.
I spoke with a group of 30 men employed by UNTAET to cut grass and to clear rubbish from along the road by Dili harbour. The only tools they had were an odd variety of knives, some just had kitchen knives — the pro-Jakarta militia destroyed all of Dili's lawnmowers! They worked on their hands and knees all day long. For this, the workers were being paid about $3.50 a day. However, they expressed considerable pride at being a part of the rebuilding of their country.
From the different workers I spoke to, it appears that wages range from $2 to $5 a day. Some security guards at the Red Cross Hospital complained that they were paid $5 a day, while the guards working for UNTAET received $10.
The Red Cross security guards were also angry that they were not entitled to sick pay. At a meeting of workers with Red Cross managers, the management refused to concede ground to the workers. The Red Cross workers knew of the International Labour Organisation and were aware of the need for trade unions. They were also aware that their six-day work week, with rotating nine-hour day shifts and 10-hour night shifts (with no extra pay for night work) was in breach of international labour conventions.
Despite complaints, the guards were pleased just to have a job, and to see their country on the path to recovery, albeit a slow one. However, their patience will not last indefinitely. The workers were aware of the recent strike by workers at the floating Hotel Olympia, but were afraid that similar action would result in losing their jobs.
Grotesque contrast
The opulent conditions for the highly paid foreigners staying in the Hotel Olympia stand in grotesque contrast with the destitution and squalor faced by most East Timorese.
The Hotel Olympia, Dubai-based and UK-owned, has contracted out all catering, housekeeping and laundry work to a Brisbane- and Singapore-based company called Eurest. The Eurest employees staged a sit-in to protest against low wages and poor conditions. The sit-in developed into a strike and the Institute for Maubere Cooperation and Equity and the Timorese Socialist Party (PST) became involved on the side of the workers.
Martin Hardie is working as a legal advisor to Avelino da Silva, secretary-general of the PST. He assisted da Silva to draft a legal agreement between the workers and management that resulted in a pay rise from $5 a day to $9, and a reduction of in the working day from 12 hours to eight.
Hardie told Green Left Weekly that, even with unemployment amongst East Timorese running at 80%, had Hotel Olympia management attempted to sack the striking workers and replace them, there would have immediately been protests of 10,000 or more outside the hotel.
"Racist and patronising" was how the Red Cross workers described the payment for the mostly white foreign workers, which is 40 to 100 times higher than for Timorese workers. They said they hoped that when the country is back under East Timorese control, that pay and conditions will be more fair.
According to Hardie, many foreign workers receive a "travel allowance" of up to $300 a day, which more than covers the $180 a day charged for meals and accommodation at the Hotel Olympia. Consequently, most foreign workers do not even need to spend their salary.
An Australian doctor said that the already short supply of medicines and medical supplies was worsened at Christmas time because the available freight space was monopolised by bulky equipment brought to Dili for the big Christmas concert for Interfet troops and other foreigners. According to the same doctor, there is still a general shortage of doctors and medical supplies, due to problems of transport rather than availability.
I was disgusted at the huge expense and effort that has gone into making the foreign "aid" workers comfortable. In contrast, apart from emergency food aid (which UNTAET is already saying the Timorese need to be weaned from), insufficient medical aid and the distribution of seed, I saw no evidence of housing reconstruction, the construction of proper water or sewerage systems.
I saw Portuguese troops laying new telephone lines, but it is quite obvious this is not primarily for the local population because it makes no sense to have a telephone when your house (if you have one) is still trashed.
UNTAET appears to be in a big hurry to reestablish many of the pillars of the state as fast as possible — police, courts, media — rather than rebuild houses.
What is inspiring, though, is the indefatigable spirit of the East Timorese. Everywhere I went, the people were endlessly friendly and battling on despite their appalling conditions. There is a huge collective relief that at last they are safe. After nearly 500 years of colonial occupation, the East Timorese believe they may soon be able to shape their own destiny.
Just how much the West, UNTAET, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will try to interfere in East Timor, and how successfully the East Timorese can stand up to such pressure, remains to be seen.