The other side of freedom

DAN MURPHY says he used to ‘‘stack the bodies’’ in his clinic in Dili in 1999 when he was one of only a few doctors in then Indonesiancontrolled East Timor.

Four years after the tiny half-island territory gained its independence, the American doctor says he hasn’t seen much change in the health of Timorese.

‘‘I still see malnourished children. I still see tuberculosis, malaria and the spread of HIV/AIDS is unimaginable,’’ he says. ‘‘I’d like to say that the health of the people has improved but in some areas it actually got worse.’’

The sick – many of them children and a few with incurable diseases – start queueing to see the tall, bearded man they call ‘‘Dr Dan’’ in Dili’s misty pre-dawn outside a cluster of ramshackle buildings that serve as his clinic in a poor suburb. By nightfall 61-year-old Murphy and several volunteer doctors will have seen up to 500 of them.

‘‘Are people happier now? Yes. In the Indonesian time people were frightened . . . numb with fright,’’ Murphy says as he examines patients in a small air-conditioned room.

‘‘Now people go to the drinking wells and talk with other people. Even though they don’t have a lot and life is a struggle they are not under anybody’s boot,’’ he says. ‘‘But the problems continue despite people gaining their freedom.’’

Murphy says one of the biggest concerns is a population explosion – 5 per cent last year. ‘‘More and more people are sleeping in little houses with poor ventilation and hygiene. These are perfect conditions for the spread of infectious diseases,’’ he says.

‘‘Not much has changed in the mountain villages. And in Dili and the towns people still can’t find jobs . . . only an elite few get to work for the foreign companies.’’

United Nations statistics show that freedom has not alleviated widespread poverty in the world’s newest nation and it might be getting worse.

The UN Development Program’s National Human Development Report 2006 reveals that half the population lacks safe drinking water, 60 of 1000 infants die before their first birthday, life expectancy is only 55 years of age and per capita income, at $US1 ($1.40) a day, is declining. But the report says East Timor can still achieve its goal of reducing poverty by one-third, largely by raising production in agricultural areas where most of the population still lives.

The country’s poverty is not deepening because of a lack of money. Existing oil and gas projects in the Timor Sea will deliver it an estimated $US8 billion by 2030. But the problem is that government departments, built from ashes since 1999, do not have the human or institutional capacity to spend the money on desperately needed services, especially in the rural areas.

This will be the main focus of representatives of donor countries, including Australia, who will meet in Dili next week.

Government ministers, diplomats and business people interviewed by the Herald in Dili this week were adamant that despite growing tension and sporadic violence in the capital since last weekend, the country is not entering a period of instability.

The trouble was linked to the recent sacking of 591 soldiers – more than one-third of the fledgling army.

‘‘The glamour that came with independence is gone,’’ a diplomat says. ‘‘The false economic boom that came with the huge influx of United Nations personnel and aid workers has troughed as they have gradually left.’’

The Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, admitted that grievances raised by the soldiers, who were sacked after deserting their barracks, had been mishandled. He said the Government must act quickly to resolve the stand-off, suggesting the soldiers be reinstated pending the outcome of an inquiry.

The panicked public reaction to the sackings showed how fragile the country remains after Indonesianbacked militia went on a killing spree and forced one-third of the population to leave the territory when people voted overwhelmingly to break away from Indonesia in 1999.

‘‘People remain traumatised by the events of the recent past,’’ Horta said. ‘‘They’re easily panicked. Opportunistic criminals spread rumours so they can take advantage of the situation.’’

Malicious or dangerous rumours swirl about Dili and Timorese often believe them. The sacking of the soldiers turned into a perceived fight between people from the western towns and villages, with people from the eastern parts, including Dili, who were, according to them, the real heroes of the independence struggle.

Tensions increased when Xanana Gusmao, the former guerilla commander turned reluctant president, made a confusing televised speech during which he said the armed forces commanders’ sacking of the soldiers was unjust. Gusmao spoke about a possible attempt to assassinate him.

‘‘The army will need a long time to become professional because our state has just begun with various sickness and attitudes,’’ he said after telling the sacked soldiers to find new jobs.

Thousands of people fled Dili last year after rumours spread of an imminent and devastating tsunami. While they were away criminals looted and ransacked their houses. The same thing has happened in the past few days. Twenty shops and houses in Dili’s suburbs were attacked after the occupants, fearing violence, had left.

Antonio Soares, 45, collects wood along the road that hugs the coast east of Dili. ‘‘Life is just as hard as it was during the Indonesian time,’’ says Soares, who has to sell enough wood each day to feed his wife and two teenage sons.

‘‘I am unhappy because I hear foreign countries give money to my country and I never get any of it,’’ he says. ‘‘The difference between now and the Indonesian time is that I have the freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want to . . . that is important to me.’’