RI and East Timor officials discuss demarcation lines<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia and East Timor agreed on the first day of a joint
\ncommission meeting on Monday to determine precise borders between
\nthe two neighbors and other residual issues following Indonesia's
\n24-year occupation which ended in 1999.<\/p>\n
The two-day meeting, led by respective foreign affairs
\nministers, were set to discuss a time frame to establish the
\nlines, which will be used to mark clear borders.<\/p>\n
"We have completed a joint air surveillance to determine the
\ndemarcation lines and expect to place marks on the land borders
\nof the two countries as soon as possible," Indonesian Minister of
\nForeign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said after talks with his East
\nTimor counterpart Jose Ramos Horta.<\/p>\n
Hassan further said that the technicalities of the agreement,
\nincluding the time frame, would be discussed at the end of the
\nmeeting on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Currently, the two countries are separated by temporary
\ndemarcation lines.<\/p>\n
On the border issue, the two countries also discussed the
\narrangement for people's movement along the borders as people
\nfrom East Timor and neighboring East Nusa Tenggara were
\ntraditionally related, Hassan said.<\/p>\n
East Timor, meanwhile, proposed a gradual reduction in the
\nnumber of troops on both sides of its borders.<\/p>\n
"It is the common vision of (East Timor's) President Xanana
\nGusmao and our government that our relations develop in such a
\nway that we can come to a gradual downsizing of the military on
\nboth sides of our border," Horta said.<\/p>\n
On the meeting, Hassan said that Jakarta proposed a settlement
\nto end the assets issue by turning Indonesia's assets in the
\nformer province into equity to start joint venture companies.<\/p>\n
"We are proposing to establish joint venture companies with
\nthose assets. We believe this is an innovative proposal to end
\nthe disputes on assets," Hassan remarked.<\/p>\n
However, he has yet to provide further details regarding the
\njoint venture proposal saying that it has to be further discussed
\nbetween the two countries.<\/p>\n
The former province separated from Indonesia, following the
\nUnited Nations (UN) popular consultation in 1999, which resulted
\nin East Timor's independence.<\/p>\n
The partition has left several problems, including refugees,
\npension funds for East Timorese civil servants and soldiers under
\nIndonesian administration as well as contentious issues on
\nborders and assets.<\/p>\n
On state assets, Hassan said that Indonesia proposed a
\nsettlement that could benefit both sides as Jakarta had built
\ninfrastructure such as water pipes, electricity, oil and gas
\ninstallations in the territory, which then president Soeharto
\nclaimed as the country's 27th province in 1976.<\/p>\n
"We are thinking about, for example, using the building of
\nformer state-owned Bank Mandiri in Dili as a place to set up a
\njoint venture bank," Hassan said.<\/p>\n
Another point of contention, the minister said, was the
\narrangement to settle personal assets as the two countries had
\nyet to find a solution.<\/p>\n
The joint commission was to be established earlier this year,
\nwhen a group of Indonesian ministers visited Dili, after the
\ncountry celebrated its independence day on May 20.<\/p>\n
Hassan said sea boundaries would be another sensitive issue as
\nit related to the oil-rich Timor gap, and Jakarta would seek to
\nensure that any possible exploration in the area would not
\ntrespass into Indonesian waters.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-and-east-timor-officials-discuss-demarcation-lines-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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