Portuguese envoy helps government prepare aid appeal

Portugal has announced US $1 million of emergency economic aid for its former colony Guinea-Bissau and has despatched a special envoy to the West African country to help its new government prepare an urgent aid appeal to international donors.

Antonio Lourenco dos Santos, a former secretary of state (deputy minister) of foreign affairs and cooperation in the Portuguese government, arrived in Bissau on Wednesday and was due to meet President Henrique Rosa on Thursday.

Rosa, a respected businessman and former head of Guinea-Bissau's electoral commission, was named interim head of state following a military coup in September. He heads a broad-based transitional government charged with organising parliamentary elections by March next year and presidential elections 12 months later.

However, Rosa inherited an empty treasury which owed civil servants massive pay arrears. The president estimated during a visit to Lisbon last week that his government would need $35 million of immediate foreign aid to meet its most urgent commitments.

Dos Santos has been designated to help Guinea-Bissau, a desparately poor country of 1.3 million people, re-establish a dialogue with the international community after three years of erratic rule by former president Kumba Yala, during which foreign aid virtually dried up.

The Portuguese news agency Lusa said he would help the government draw up an emergency economic programme and would accompany President Rosa to the United States next week for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations.

Besides promising financial aid to Guinea-Bissau, Portugal announced the dispatch of 90,000 doses of measles vaccine to curb an outbreak of the disease which has been rampant in the country for several months.