Withhold funding to East Timor

The Directorate General of Taxation has always said that taxes are used to finance our country's development. In the past 23 years, the taxes we paid have partly been used for the development of East Timor. I have nothing against this allocation, because East Timor is part of the Republic of Indonesia.

It is expected that the East Timorese would appreciate the financial assistance from Indonesian taxpayers, because the province is able to contribute only 7 percent of the budget needed for its development. The fact is that most East Timorese do not show gratitude for this assistance. Medical and teaching personnel dedicating themselves to the East Timorese have instead been tortured.

Xanana Gusmao has said he is convinced 99 percent of East Timorese will opt for independence from Indonesia, rather than accepting broader autonomy as offered by the Indonesian government. If things are as clear as this, we should simply give up East Timor as of January 2000. Stop the financial aid from Indonesia and ask Portugal, Australia, Canada and other countries supporting East Timor's independence to send their aid instead. The Indonesian soldiers must be pulled out of East Timor and replaced by UN peace-keeping forces. If we deem it necessary to help East Timor, we may extend some financial aid, but this will be voluntary.

The funds we have dropped into East Timor for the past 23 years would be more useful if they were now used to help our own regions within the Republic of Indonesia. Let the East Timorese learn to manage their own land, just as Indonesia's people did after proclaiming their independence on Aug. 17, 1945.

We need not worry about the likelihood of a civil war in East Timor because Xanana himself has definitively dismissed this concern.

Indonesia will benefit from a prosperous independent East Timor because it will import a lot from Indonesia.

As for the referendum, let them hold this after 10 to 15 years of independence. That will be their own internal matter, something which they will have to finance themselves. This referendum should not be financed by Indonesian taxpayers.

SUNARTO PRAWIROSUJANTO

Jakarta