Translation from Tetum:
Tempo Semanal - Dili, 31.01.2011
The President of the Republic, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta has asked the Timor-Leste Government “not to suspend, or abandon, further talks”, with the oil company Woodside.
“We have to maintain dialogue with everyone,” President Horta said in response to the position taken by the government to close the doors to Woodside.
“Now we are not going to dialogue with an investor who has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in oil exploration? We depend totally on Bayu Undan. What if something happens with Bayu Undan? Like an earthquake or some other disaster, where will our revenues come from then?” questioned Horta.
“So we should look to an agreement as soon as we can. Not sell ourselves to them. We should hold constructive negotiations to find a solution that is also good for them, because after all they are not a charity, they are not Mother Teresa. They want a profit. All oil companies around the world are like that.”
“If we negotiate cleverly as the first constitutional government did with Conoco Phillips and the Australian Government with Bayu Undan and the Timor Sea Treaty, and now we should look towards how to implement the Greater Sunrise agreement.”
The President of the Republic suggested the AMP Government should seek the help of former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri to help in the negotiations with Australia.
“Call Dr. Alkatiri and seek his opinion too, give me the correct information. So that we can all put our heads together to find a strong strategy that is the best for Timor-Leste.” (TS)
Posted by TEMPO SEMANAL
No comments:
Post a Comment