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"Why are we rushing [negotiations with Australia]?
... We already have the
institutions, but we don't yet have
people who can assure that we will stand on a culture of transparency,
a culture of effective handling of problems. ... in my perception, we should not rush like
we are in a very, very difficult situation of need, ... It's fundamental for me as president
to guarantee the sovereignty, to guarantee the state, and the
fundamental problem is the demarcation [of the maritime boundary] ...
It must be the basis of
all the considerations." East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao
Lihat juga: (Bahasa Indonesia)
21 Juni
2005
STL: TL belum siap kelola dana dari LT
See this analysis:
September 2004 The Case for Saving Sunrise: http://www.etan.org/lh/misc/04sunrise.html
East Timor Not Ready to
Handle Oil, Gas Revenue, Gusmao Says
To listen to the interview with President Xanana Gusmao: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aRHyd3AqxhpI&refer=asia
June 16 (Bloomberg) -- East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao said his
country shouldn't rush to settle a dispute with Australia over offshore
oil and gas fields before the three-year- old nation can handle the
royalties, which may exceed $14 billion over two decades.
``Why are we rushing? Having billions of dollars to rest in the bank?''
Gusmao said in an interview in Bangkok. ``We already have the
institutions, but we don't yet have people who can assure that we will
stand on a culture of transparency, a culture of effective handling of
problems.''
Australia and East Timor are ``on the threshold'' of an accord to split
petroleum royalties from Woodside Petroleum Ltd.'s stalled Sunrise gas
project, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said May 13. Talks on a
final settlement on the border between the two countries may be
suspended for 50 years, East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta
said May 30.
East Timor, which broke away from Indonesia in May 2002 after a 24-year
armed struggle, wants the boundary at a mid-point between the two
countries, in the gas-rich Timor Sea. Australia pushed for the revenue
split to be agreed before any territorial settlement. That's the wrong
way around, Gusmao said.
``It's fundamental for me as president to guarantee the sovereignty, to
guarantee the state, and the fundamental problem is the demarcation,''
Gusmao said while attending a Business Week leadership forum in
Bangkok. ``It must be the basis of all the considerations.''
Judiciary
Finalizing sea boundaries, establishing a strong judiciary, responsible
police force, and a financial structure including a central bank and a
development bank are essential to ensure the country's economy benefits
from the oil revenue, and to avoid the money being misspent, or
corrupting officials, he said.
East Timor's head of state is not directly involved in the government's
negotiations with Australia.
``I am not talking on behalf of the government, because we are
separated institutions in our system, but in my perception, we should
not rush like we are in a very, very difficult situation of need,'' he
said.
Woodside, Australia's second-biggest oil and gas producer, and its
partners stopped work on the proposed $3.7 billion Sunrise gas project
on Dec. 31 in the absence of an agreement between Australia and East
Timor on the division of royalties.
East Timor will receive as much as $5 billion of extra revenue under a
proposed agreement with Australia on splitting petroleum royalties from
the Sunrise field, Australian Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said on
June 6.
Royalties
In addition, East Timor will receive about $14 billion over the next 20
years from its 90 percent share of royalties from an area jointly
administered by the two countries, Macfarlane told the South East Asia
Australia Offshore Conference in Darwin, Australia. The actual amounts
depend on oil prices, he said.
United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in East Timor on May 20,
and Australian troops followed this week. About 300 UN representatives
remain in East Timor to help the country establish technical systems,
rather than security and stability.
The UN administered the territory of about 1 million people after its
vote for independence in a 1999 referendum, after which pro-Indonesia
groups destroyed about 70 percent of local property and killed more
than 1,400 people. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in
1975.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Beth Jinks in Bangkok at Bjinks1@bloomberg.net
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aRHyd3AqxhpI&refer=asia
Bahasa
Indonesia
Lihat juga:
21
Juni 2005 STL: TL belum siap kelola dana dari LT
"Mengapa kita harus terburu-buru? ... Kita
telah memiliki
institusi-institusi legal di pemerintahan, namun kita belum memiliki
orang-orang yang bisa menjamin uang rakyat ini aman dan juga meyakinkan
kita bahwa kita akan berada di sebuah moment yang akan penuh
transparency, sebuah culture akan penanganan efektifitas
masalah-masalah, ... Ini merupakan sesuatu yang sangat fundamental bagi
saya sebagai
presiden untuk menjamin kedaulatan, untuk menjamin (stabilitas dan
keamanan-red) Negara dimana masalah yang paling fundamental (antara
Australia danTL-red) adalah demarkasi," Presiden Timor Leste (TL) Kay
Rala Xanana Gusmao
Bahasa
Ingerris
See this analysis:
September 2004 The Case for Saving Sunrise:
http://www.etan.org/lh/misc/04sunrise.html
"[oil and gas] Stakeholders,
including oil companies, the Australian government, international
financial institutions and aid agencies, are telling Timor-Leste what
it should do, in light of their respective interests. The most
important stakeholder – the people of Timor-Leste – would be best
served by sequential, rather than simultaneous, development of
Timor-Leste’s two major petroleum fields, postponing Sunrise
development for at least a decade. This would allow time to make wiser
decisions, and would help Timor-Leste maximize its petroleum revenues.
Although neither Australia nor the oil companies currently prefer this
path, Timor-Leste’s government is responsible for the long-term
well-being of its own citizens, and that should be the primary
consideration. This paper presents the reasons for developing Greater
Sunrise after Bayu-Undan, saving Sunrise gas in the ground for 10-15
years, to maximize benefits for Timor-Leste." Submitted to the
government of Timor-Leste by Charles Scheiner, La’o Hamutuk 28 July 2004
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