Source: RDP Antena 1 radio, Lisbon, in Portuguese 0800 gmt 5 Jul 01
[Presenter] East Timor and Australia have signed a crucial agreement, the basis for a future treaty giving the future state of Timor Loro Sae 90 per cent of the oil revenue from the Timor Sea. Until now the Timor Gap’s revenue was shared equally between Australia and Indonesia. Now Indonesia is out of the deal, Timor will receive 90 per cent of the share and Australia 10 per cent.
[Reporter] ...It is likely that in the next 20 years this deal will bring roughly 180m dollars annually to East Timor. The accord is expected to be turned into a treaty once East Timor becomes independent and democratic structures are in place... Jose Ramos Horta, Timorese foreign minister, believes this is an excellent agreement but it carries serious internal risks.
[Horta] The danger of wealth, the danger of the dollar, the petro-dollar - it is obvious. It is clear that we must have solid and democratic institutions. We must work with great transparency and with a great sense of responsibility, otherwise we could have all the oil in the world but the country would still not develop. There are so many examples of this. Our neighbours, for example: one of the largest oil producers in the world and yet 50 years after independence it has not managed to resolve the problem of poverty.
[Reporter] Timorese Economy Minister Mari Alkatiri, one of the negotiators of this accord, agrees with Ramos Horta.
[Alkatiri] Until a system is set up to
ensure that the money, these resources, will indeed benefit the whole population
and not just some bank accounts, it will be a good idea to take great care.
And above all we must develop a transparent, solid, effective system to
absorb this money and spend it positively to develop the whole country.
Source: RDP Antena 1 radio, Lisbon, in
Portuguese 0800 gmt 5 Jul 01
See also:
BD: TIMOR OIL - A collection of recent reports, position statements, petitions, articles and news
Feb
3 STL: Bishop Belo Calls For Timor Gap Watch News from
ETimor updated Feb 9
"In order to ensure that the royalties
[from Timor Gap] are used only for the country [ETimor], Bishop Belo called
for the setting up of an independent body [Timor Gap Watch] that will monitor
every liter of oil from the Timor Gap and the way royalties are generated
from it. Also the manner in which the royalties are spent will be closely
monitored." Suara
Timor Lorosae