Withhold funding to East Timor

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