23 February, 2007; Dili—Following a shortage of rice and price increases in the commodity, the Timorese Government with the assistance of the United Nations will organize a large-scale delivery of the nation's major food staple in Dili today.

"In order to alleviate this situation, the Government has requested the World Food Program to provide 300 metric tones of rice and WFP has responded positively to this request," said the UN's head of humanitarian assistance Finn Reske-Nielsen.

Efforts to release the consignment of rice to the markets begin today with deliveries to four locations in Dili's sub districts. The deliveries will account for 30 tones for each population of 8,000 people. Deliveries will be repeated tomorrow. By Monday, it is expected that 30 shops organized by the Chefs de Sucos will receive two to two and half tones of rice to be resold at the normal price of US$2 per five kilo bag.

Mr Reske-Nielsen said that the shortage which started a few weeks ago in the western district of Oecussi had since spread to the rest of the nation becoming a grave concern.

"As the supply of rice continues to decline, the prices have been going up on an average rising from about 35 cents per kilo to, in some cases, more than one dollar per kilo," he said.

"Our UN colleagues in the World Food Program have analyzed the situation and they have concluded that the main reason for the rice shortage in fact is not limited to Timor-Leste," Reske-Nielsen said. "We have a similar situation in Indonesia as well and the main reason for the shortage is there is generally a shortage of rice in the sub region and it has in part to do with the late harvest in Vietnam."

Mr Reske-Nielsen said, in the past two weeks, he had visited the nation's 13 Districts. "It is clear that the late and much smaller rainfall has affected large parts of the country, he said."

He said the government has requested the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the WFP to jointly undertake a crop assessment which is expected to begin in early March.

Mr Reske-Nielsen said the Government is taking an additional measure of trying to expedite further rice shipments from abroad to bring the problem under control.

For additional information, please contact: Allison Cooper, Spokesperson at +670 723 0453