Rebuilding East Timor

BlueScope Steel has joined the international humanitarian aid effort to rebuild East Timor by donating 120 tonnes of steel roofing and 4.6 tonnes of nails. The building materials have been distributed by World Vision aid workers directly to more than 800 East Timorese people and families whose homes were damaged or destroyed.

World Vision reports that East Timor's vote for freedom in 1999 left the small Asian nation in tatters. Food stocks were destroyed or looted, while agricultural land, crops and livestock were abandoned as rural people fled their holdings. Meanwhile, rural folk under the protection of UN soldiers are reluctant to go home until their survival can be assured.

Thousands of East Timorese now rely on international goodwill administered by United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian agencies for food, protection and help to rebuild their lives.

Most of East Timor's estimated population of 750,000 people are starting from “ground zero". More than 500,000 people were displaced by the violence. Of the approximately 175,000 East Timorese who fled the post-referendum violence in 1999, it is estimated that 85,000 still remain in West Timor.

The United Nations has inherited responsibility for putting the tiny nation back on its feet, appealing for A$228 million from the global community to cover the cost of food, emergency shelter, health care, water supply and sanitation services over the next six months.

World Vision aid worker Karen Robinson, based in Dili, said the building materials donated by BlueScope Steel have helped to put a roof over the heads for 847 East Timorese families.

"In many cases the steel roofing has liberated families from living under crude structures  where natural foliage was the only means to keep the tropical rains out," Ms Robinson said. "This material has dramatically improved conditions for many thousands of people."

BlueScope Steel's partnership with World Vision has also provided support to rebuild thousands of school classrooms in the wake of a devastating earthquake which destroyed the Kutch district in India's Gujerat state early in 2001.