U.S. Diplomat Visits Oecussi, Urges Action
to Help the Enclave

OECUSSI—The United States Chargé d’Affairs, Mr. Gary Gray, visited the Oecussi enclave on February 1 and 2 at the invitation of the Secretary of State for Oecussi, Dr. Albano Salem. During the two-day visit, he met with government officials, local traders, STAE staff and domestic election monitors, and USAID partners implementing specific projects in the enclave. “Through this visit, we are trying to demonstrate the US Government’s concern about the situation in Oecussi. I also want to see first-hand the results of our assistance here and to look at possibilities of further assistance as well as the prospects for economic development,” Mr. Gray said.

The Chargé visited the site of last year’s floods that wiped out 11 hectares of rice paddies and several houses in the enclave. In response to the disaster, USAID provided the Ministry of Labor and Community Reinsertion and the Ministry of Public Works with the building materials and flood-control technology to line the riverbanks with gabions (large wire baskets filled with stones). USAID also helped rebuild the houses destroyed by last year’s floods. “This is just a bandage solution. The river is expanding every year. The real problem is the massive soil erosion up in the hills, due to deforestation and slash and burn agriculture,” said Richard Mounsey, special economic advisor to the Secretary of State for Oecussi, who was contracted through UNDP by USAID to help the local government draft policies and legislation specifically to expand the private sector in the enclave.

Mr. Gray also visited the local legal aid organization Fundacao Fatu Sinai Oecussi (FFSO), which is implementing the USAID-supported cross-border dialogue and trade program of The Asia Foundation, in addition to an ongoing legal aid program for women and disadvantaged citizens. Lastly, Mr. Gray visited the World Food Program (WFP) sub-office in Oecussi and was shown one of the school feeding and supplementary feeding sites. The US Government is the largest contributor to WFP, which since 2005 has distributed nearly 470 metric tons of food aid in Oecussi, reaching 22,000 beneficiaries.

Just the day before the US Chargé arrived, a convoy of five trucks of food aid from WFP had just crossed the border to respond to the dire food situation in the enclave. The issue of food scarcity topped the list of problems that the local government officials raised with the Chargé during the latter’s visit. One thing that has exacerbated the food scarcity problem of Oecussi is the insecurity in Dili, which displaced a number of people to Oecussi, further overstressing the district’s limited food supply. Other issues the officials raised during the meetings were: increasing unemployment rate; water scarcity; electricity shortage; and lack of transportation connecting the enclave to the rest of Timor-Leste.

Mr. Gray also met with Oecussi’s traders, who highlighted the lack of transportation as the biggest obstacle to business at present. While emphasizing the need for more capital and capacity-building, the traders also suggested how the Government of Timor-Leste could best assist them, such as through bilateral initiatives with Indonesia forging ties between Oecussi and Indonesian traders.

“There are clear indicators that it’s urgent for barriers to trade and movement of people to be eliminated. We urge the Governments of Timor-Leste and Indonesia to finalize agreements already made regarding border passage and management, markets and transportation. Despite a 2002 agreement between the two countries, it is still difficult for most local citizens to visit families or do business across the border. Even the new road connecting Oecussi to the rest of Timor-Leste is slowed by redundant and cumbersome official checkpoints,” Mr. Gray said, adding that: “The international community and the Government of Timor-Leste should pay more attention to the enclave. We need to stimulate the local economy and develop businesses (in Oecussi).”

A source of hope for the situation, the Chargé said, is that cross-border relations are good: “The border is calm and peaceful. There seems to be good relations and cooperation between Timor-Leste and Indonesia. From my dialogue with the traders, it seems that there are a number of good initiatives in terms of relations between Oecussi and Indonesia. A strong relationship (between Indonesia and Timor-Leste) in terms of business development will, in addition to promoting business trade, ensure that any incident along the border is quickly resolved.”

Download:
"Focus on Oecussi: FactSheet on USAID's Projects in the Enclave"