Indonesian President SBY and Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana |
Timor-Leste defeated Indonesia's 24 year long occupation, but is increasingly economically dependent and dominated by its former occupier.
After 13 years of international presence in Timor-Leste and
ten years since the restoration of independence the country now has to turn to
Indonesia to help free its people from poverty. Western countries that helped Timorese gain independence are not investing its in economic development other than through ineffective aid projects.
Despite 14 billion dollars from donor countries and UN being
spent on developing Timor-Leste and billions more from the Petroleum Fund
Timorese people remain among the poorest in Asia.
The Government, under Prime Ministers Alkatiri, Ramos-Horta
and Xanana Gusmao, have consistently stated that justice for the crimes of
1975-99 are not as important a priority as freeing the people of the Timor-Leste from
poverty. The Timorese Government
was unable to free its people from poverty in partnership with the wider
international community; it is now turning to the old enemy to develop
Timor-Leste.
Since 2008 the expansion and deepening of relations with
Indonesia has grown dramatically.
The Indonesian business community in Dili has grown both in size and
influence. It is developing dominance in critical national infrastructure
development along with many other areas.
1. Petro sector: Timor-Leste depends almost entirely on
Indonesia for supplies of fuel.
And recently Indonesian state oil company Pertamina signed an agreement
with new Timor state oil company TimorGAP to dominate the petrol station sector across all
districts. Prime Minister Gusmao has also consulted widely with
Indonesian actors in East Java in developing the South coast supply base as part
of the Tasi Mane mega project.
2. Recently, TELIN a subsidiary of Indonesia’s state owned
and largest telcoms company TELKOSMEL won a license to operate a telcoms
network in Timor-Leste.
3. Indonesian operators Merpati and Batavia dominate the air
transport sector in Timor-Leste.
4. Indonesian bank Mandiri is the preferred financial
institution for unregulated financial transactions by Indonesian businesses
with their Timorese partners.
5. Indonesia’s
shipping hub in Surabaya dominates shipping routes to and from Timor-Leste.
6. Indonesian
educational institutions remain the preferred destination for the majority of
Timorese university students.
7. Indonesian government departments are rapidly becoming
the dominant development partners for all of Timor-Leste’s ministries to
improve the civil service.
8. The Indonesian national police service is expanding its
cooperation and assistance to Timorese national police.
9. In a dramatic and important move in 2011 after the visit of
former Vice President and Commander of the Indonesian military General Tri
Sutrisno, the opening of Timorese and Indonesian military cooperation has begun
in earnest.
10. Indonesian
suppliers are already providing a range of non-lethal material to Timorese
security institutions, and weapons and ammunition transfer are inevitable.
11. Indonesian business played a key role in financing a
number of political parties in the recent national elections.
12. While the
Government is spending billions on reconstruction of Timorese infrastructure
that was destroyed by the Indonesian army and its Timorese allies, the vast
majority of building supplies are Indonesian in origin.
13. Timor-Leste
is now receiving thousands of Indonesian migrant workers who are beginning to
dominate certain areas of the labor force and service industries.
While Timorese dollars flow eastwards to Indonesian businesses that profit from increased cooperation many people ask how long does the Timorese population have to wait for substantive justice and reconciliation? The Indonesian establishment still finds it hard to return the remains of Nicolau Lobato and many other disappeared heroes such as Mau Hudo, David Alex, and Sabalae.
President SBY, who has shown himself to be sympathetic to Timorese feelings on these matters has also proven to be unable to generate results. With Prabowo Subianto being the current front runner to replace SBY things will possibly become more complicated.
Given that Indonesia is not only benefitting from Timor-Leste reconstruction and that it is exerting economic dominance, in addition to longstanding Timorese patience, it is important that old wounds be closed while the opportunity still exists.
1 comment:
Thanks to Tempo Semanal for this interesting article. There continues a great dilemma for Timor-Leste in relation to Indonesia - not only is the question of economic dependence (some may say dominance) of central importance since it also may be used to influence political policies within East Timor, demands for justice for the human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by the Indonesian state during the illegal occupation continue.
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