Over 10,000 RI assets in E. Timor remain in limbo
Over 10,000 RI assets in E. Timor remain in limbo
The fate of over 10,000 assets belonging to Indonesia in East
Timor remains uncertain as the government there has delayed the
establishment of a joint subcommittee to deal with the assets.
"We have repeatedly appealed (to the East Timorere government)
to set up the subcommittee immediately, but it has not been set
up due to technical problems," head of the Representative Office
of the Republic of Indonesia in Dili Fauzi Bustami said early
this week.
Indonesia's assets in East Timor are classified into three --
government assets, business enterprise assets (state-owned
enterprises and firms), and individual assets.
Indonesia and East Timor have had two Joint Ministerial
Committee (JMC) meetings to resolve the assets issue. The first
JMC meeting was held in October 2002 in Jakarta, while the
second, in Dili in September 2003.
In the second JMC, both countries agreed to set up a Technical
Subcommittee on Assets which would hold focused discussions on
the assets.
The assets question is an increasingly urgent one as East
Timor has enacted a law banning land ownership by foreigners.
In March 2003, East Timor enacted Law No. 1/2003 on the legal
status of immovable assets. The law stipulates that, among other
things, foreigners cannot obtain ownership over land in East
Timor. It also requires foreigners who have assets in East Timor
to register their property with the land directorate.
Indonesians, according to Fauzi, have a total of over 10,000
assets registered through the Home Affairs Ministry in Jakarta,
which was submitted to East Timor's embassy in Jakarta and then
the land directorate.
Some property owners registered directly with the land
directorate in Dili, some with the East Timor association in
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, and others through the Representative
Office of the Republic of Indonesia in Dili.
"The total value of those assets is still unknown as they are
being registered," Fauzi said.
He also said that many assets registered with the land
directorate lacked complete information or supporting documents,
such as the precise location and the size of certain property.
"Since the subcommittee has not been established yet, it is
difficult to gauge whether landownership by foreigners would
translate into the right to use it; otherwise the owners would
have to sell it to the East Timor government," Fauzi said.
-- Kanis Dursin