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Twenty-six councilors out the 30-member
National Council will be making their way to Darwin between 8 May - 10
May to seek further data on the Timor Gap. This data will be used by the
National Council to analyze the involvement of the Australian government
and Philips Petroleum in the development of the Timor Gap, said National
Council President Manuel Carascalao yesterday.
Manuel said the NC members were not forced
to go to Darwin by any party. He said the members were given a choice of
registering if they wanted to make the trip.
Manuel gave his reasons for the Darwin data-gathering trip.
“If we wait for UNTAET to brief us, then everything would be deemed a secret. UNTAET is here only for a limited period and Timor Lorosae will be independent soon. Therefore the people need to know the actual facts,” said the NC president.
According to Manuel, while the NC members are in Darwin they will meet all parties that have stakes in the Timor Gap from Australian government officials to petroleum industry people.
See
also:
BD:
TIMOR OIL - A collection of recent reports, position statements, petitions,
articles and news