[Presenter] Xanana Gusmao [president
of the National Council of the Timorese Resistance]
said today that the money given to East Timor is not being used well. In
addition there is lack of help, delays in several sectors and divisions
among circles of Timorese society. Xanana Gusmao was speaking at a meeting
in Dili of representatives of the 15 donor countries.
Antonio Veladas reports:
[Reporter] After his resignation yesterday from the Timorese National Council, today Xanana opened the donors’ conference by criticizing the transitional government’s use of funds. This was an internal message. An ironic Xanana Gusmao told the donors’ representatives that if ministers in Sergio Vieira de Mello’s [head of UNTAET, UN Transitional Administration in East Timor] government left the country less often and visited the districts in the interior of East Timor instead, listening to the people’s complaints and aspirations, then the level of trust would be different. Xanana said that the people would feel the funds were being used properly. To support this criticism, Xanana spoke of the existence of 686,000 dollars which needed to be used by June. Xanana noted there was little visible fruit from the over 100bn escudos already spent...
Sergio Vieira de Mello told RDP [Portuguese state radio] this afternoon that Xanana Gusmao’s resignation was accepted because it was felt he would be more useful outside parliament rather than inside. Mello believes Gusmao is stronger outside the political system to continue exercising his influence among the people, reassuring them and answering their questions.