RI to open a representative office in Dili

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)