UN calling to Timor a make-do mission

All may seem calm around the NZ base at Suai but danger is never far away, we learn in the first in a series of articles from East Timor.

The soldiers of NZBatt3 joke that the United Nations flag flying out the front of their forward base at Suai, East Timor, is white for surrender.

The flag has been bleached in the tropical sun from its original UN blue but surrender is far from the minds of the hundreds of personnel whose home until next May is Suai.

Colonel David Gawn, head of the 600-strong battalion, is awaiting new flags. "We just have to wait for the system to kick in."

The sprawling base, housed around an old colonial-style hospital that shows the scars of a September 1999 militia rampage, is the centre of operations for the New Zealand peacekeepers attached to the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor, Untaet.

The troops are responsible for security in 1600 sq km surrounding Suai on the 110km border with West Timor. The terrain ranges from lowland swamp to mountains rising over 2100m just 25km from the coast, while the vegetation ranges from scrubby bush to almost impenetrable jungle.

As the wet season begins, when it is not raining it is blisteringly hot. Most roads are little more than single-lane tracks prone to washouts, cutting access to key areas.

The population of the area was about 67,000 before last year's violence. Now about 50,000 people subsist on food mainly from traditional garden plots and hunting.

Suai, made up of a town centre surrounded by villages, suffered its share of the killing and destruction wrought by the rampaging militias.

Most houses are missing roofs - the corrugated iron went west. They say that for every house without a roof there is a refugee family in West Timor waiting to return.

But the destruction was not as severe as in Dili. Repairs are slowly under way, a small market is operating and roadside stalls have reappeared.

The New Zealanders are a big part of the Suai scene. Patrols come and go. The locals do not let a vehicle pass without offering or returning a friendly wave. Children scream variations of "Kia ora" or "How are you?"

Aid agencies and the New Zealanders have been restoring local schools but pupils have no paper, pens or even pencils.

The job of the New Zealanders is to ensure the East Timorese feel safe. From the road it looks like they are succeeding.

The main threat to stability is militia groups crossing the border through the New Zealanders' area of operations.

Two heavily armed and uniformed groups of 10 to 20 militiamen are thought to have travelled through in July and August.

In the run-up to self-rule elections next August, pro-Indonesian political parties backed by military wings are expected to mount destabilising campaigns throughout East Timor.

The soldiers of the 3rd New Zealand Battalion Group have not encountered any militias since arriving last month but they remain on high alert, keeping their weapons handy at all times.

Colonel Gawn says there is still a threat.

"The militias, whilst they are inactive in terms of direct confrontation, are still certainly across the other side of the border and perhaps on this side of the border.

"The threat here in Suai itself is certainly low at the moment. They normally bypass Suai but when I say bypass we are talking two to three kilometres on the other side. That is not very far away."

For the soldiers, the past month has worked as a shake-down period to get used to the conditions and base life. From time to time there are shortages of bottled Indonesian drinking water, toilet paper and disposable plastic plates, which sometimes have to be washed for reuse.

Another problem is aged equipment. Broken-down armoured personnel carriers are parked conspicuously at the front of the base.

Colonel Gawn agrees that his troops are poorly paid and equipped. He says the Territorials serving with NZBatt3 are a classic case of New Zealand soldiers being undervalued. More than half of the 120 had to resign their civilian jobs to serve, their employers not being willing to hold jobs open for six months.

Next: Inside a militia stronghold.

Herald Online feature: Timor mission

UN Transitional Administration in E Timor