What are the biggest priorities in fixing East Timors economy?
There are three things that are interrrelated. One is security. We cannot do anything until security is guaranteed. The second priority is to put together a functioning administration to restore the new transitional government, deliver some basic services, and get a government going in East Timor. The problem is that 10,000 to 15,000 civil servants have fled East Timor to West Timor, or are displaced someplace in East Timor. That’s of the 28,000 civil servants in the local bureaucracy. So the government is paralyzed, especially in Dili [the capital] and other cities in East Timor. Third, restore basic infrastructure: Water, power, telephone, food supply. Even to provide temporary housing within East Timor and for those who have left and intend to go back. Q: How long will it take East Timor to rebuild? A: To get back to level of basic infrastructure that existed a month ago will take years. Probably five years, depending on the level of commitment from the international community. East
