Kupang – The people of the western half of Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara, must also enjoy their traditional rights as owners of the Timor Sea, the site of oil and gas explorations known as the Timor Gap, and not merely receiving the impacts of damage of the ecosystem in the Timor Sea.

This statement was made by chairman of the West Timor Foundation of Care for West Timor (YPTB), Ferdi Tanoni, in Kupang Friday after meeting an invitation from commission D of the East Nusa Tenggara legislative assembly to discuss the formation of a working group to fight for the rights of the people of Timor in the Timor Sea, and to regain the Pasir Island.

During the meeting, he said, the local legislative assembly and the YPTB shared the view that all Timorese have the right for all the wealth in the Timor Sea.

For this struggle, he added, the East Nusa Tenggara provincial agovernment has allocated funds for the establishment of a working group secretariat and for the intensification of pressure on the central government to resume talks on the Timor Gap and the Pasir Island.

He said traditionally the Timorese are the owners of the Timor Sea but in view of the interest of the western countries' political affairs, oil and oil reserves in the future in the interest of the West, the rights of the traditional people became ignored.

He said at present, the Timorese in the western part of Timor Island have their "rights" (quote/unquote), because they are new in the struggle to get international recognition.

Because of these "rights", he said, for the time being the Timorese in the west part of the province gave priority to the interest of the people in the Timor Sea, especially with regard to oil and gas explorations which damaged the ecosystem and caused pollution of the Timor Sea.

He also expressed disapproval of foreign parties to prove that the Pasir Island located only 70 miles south of Rote Island, was for the first time discovered by the fishermen from Rote and not by western people. The Pasir Island was found far before the British came to Australia.

When asked about the East Timor has more rights to the Timor Gap, Ferdi said actually President Xanana Gusmao should realize that the Timor people in the west part of East Nusa Tenggara also have the rights as the people in East Timor.

If Xanana wished that the two regions develop rapidly, thought must also be given to the interest of the Timorese people of the western part of East Nusa Tenggara in the oil and gas explorations in the Timor Sea, stretching from Pasir Island to the Arafura Sea.