Governor endorses proposal to finance Timor Gap working group

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo endorsed here on Friday a proposal by the provincial legislative assembly to allocate Rp 150 million of the regional budget for a working group researching the Timor Gap and Pasir Island (Ashmore Reef).

The group espouses the idea that the people of East Nusa Tenggara have the right to share in any development of oil or gas reserves in the Timor Gap, and that Ashmore Reef belongs to Indonesia not Australia.

"The group can use the funds from the regional budget to conduct further research (on the East Nusa Tenggara people's supposed right to oil or gas reserves from the Timor Gap and Pasir Island)," Piet said.

The group should also convey the East Nusa Tenggara people's aspirations to Indonesia's foreign ministry, the governor said as quoted by Antara.

He said the question of who was the rightful owner of the Timor Sea (where the Timor Gap and Pasir Island are located) was important to the people of East Nusa Tenggara because it held implications for their future.

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