In a milestone for the new democracy of East Timor, a major parliamentary committee held an informational hearing with input from the general public rather than from invited participants. According to the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which facilitated the visit, this was the first public hearing held by a parliamentary committee.

Twelve members of the National Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, and National Security (known as Committee B) traveled to the exclave of Oecussi to gather information about reported illegal border crossings, smuggling, and land disputes. Oecussi lies wholly within West Timor, a province of Indonesia. With East Timor's recent independence after 24 years of Indonesian occupation, what had been simply a district boundary is now an international border. Concerns are mounting about the increasing number of unauthorized incursions from West Timor.

Committee B members opted to visit a village in Passabe subdistrict where frequent illegal border crossings are reported, and decided to hold its public hearing there. About 400 people attended, including local government officials and community leaders. They heard from a subdistrict official, a liurai (traditional community leader), and village and community heads. Committee B members were pressed to help resolve specific issues, including disagreements about border demarcation, at the heart of a dispute over 300 hectares of prime agricultural land, and the alleged theft of valuable teak and sandalwood trees by Indonesians.

Committee B Chairman Jose Manuel Fernandes acknowledged the seriousness of the community's concerns and agreed to raise the border issues at the national level. The Committee B visit and public hearing preceded the planned visit to Oecussi by the joint East Timor/Republic of Indonesia border demarcation task force. The task force is finishing the negotiations on where the border between the two countries should be.

Supported by USAID funding, NDI's Security Sector Reform Program facilitates visits to communities throughout East Timor by Parliamentary Committee B members. These visits strengthen government oversight of the security sector and encourage community engagement with their elected representatives.

Printer Friendly Version