More council aid for East Timor

By Sarah Schwager
CASEY Council has again thrown its support behind East Timor.
Council’s sister city Ermera, which has a friendship agreement with the City of Casey, will receive funding to help with work by community-based support group Friends of Ermera.
Council will fund travel costs of about $2000 for one person each year to come from Ermera for training.
Council will also provide a new notebook computer and printer and a digital camera to the value of $3000 to the Friends of Ermera for use by the Ermera District Office.
Once the Ermera District Administrator has been appointed after this week’s East Timor presidential election, council officers will also be able to identify additional equipment sought by the Friends of Ermera.
Councillor Wayne Smith said the district office desperately needed new equipment but also needed things it could buy in its own community, not only helping the economy but providing better access to spare parts and repairs.
Councillor Rob Wilson said there was a lack of Federal Government help to East Timor and so it had become up to Victorian councils to take on projects helping the East Timorese rebuild.
“It’s a very piddling amount of money in the scheme of things,” he said.
Last week, Friends of Ermera president Jan Trezise flew to East Timor to join the United Nations team of observers for the second round of the country’s presidential elections.
The first round election was indecisive with the two candidates who polled the highest number of votes to contest the second vote.
“People feel more comfortable when international observers are present to ensure that there will be no nonsense with the election,” Ms Trezise said before she left.
Cr Smith commended Ms Trezise for travelling to East Timor during an election, saying it was not necessarily safe.