RI to open a representative office in Dili

JAKARTA (JP): The government will establish a special representative office in Dili, East Timor, soon to protect Indonesia's interests and property in its former province, a senior minister said on Saturday.

Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Gen. Wiranto said the representative office would be assigned to work with the United Nations to handle the fate of Indonesian assets.

It will negotiate with the UN on whether the government will sell its property and assets in the territory to East Timor or just donate them during the transitional period before it becomes an independent state.

"This office will become an Indonesian embassy soon after East Timor becomes a sovereign state," Wiranto said after attending a plenary Cabinet meeting at the Bina Graha presidential office.

According to Wiranto, only the state-owned oil company Pertamina and telecommunications company PT Telkom have kept their assets and continued operations in the form of a foreign investment status in the territory. State-run electricity company PT PLN has decided to abandon East Timor.

"The government is still considering whether we will hand over the assets as a grant to the new East Timor government or ask for compensation for the assets," said Wiranto.

Apart from the material assets, Wiranto said the government would also quickly handle citizenship problems faced by East Timorese.

According to Wiranto, the government will process applications from East Timorese who wish to retain their Indonesian citizenship. The same rule will also apply for those who wish to relinquish Indonesian citizenship but continue to reside in Indonesia.

"On this problem, we are preparing a presidential or ministerial decree which will regulate the procedures to obtain citizenship," Wiranto remarked.

Despite the decision to open a representative office in Dili, the government has rejected a request from the National Council of East Timorese Resistance (CNRT) to open a similar office in Jakarta.

Wiranto contended that the CNRT was only one of many political interests in East Timor and did not yet formally represent the people of East Timor

"As it does not represent the whole spectrum of the political aspiration in East Timor, we still cannot accept the request," he argued.

President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to meet with East Timor leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao later this month in Jakarta. (prb)