Government Urged To Cancel EEZ Agreement With Australia

Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (Antara Bali) - The government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is urged to cancel agreement with Australia on exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf in Timor Sea.

"The agreement signed in 1997 has not been ratified by the House of Representatives and it could not be implemented as East Timor has become an independent country since 1999, chairman of the Foundation of Peduli Timor Barat Ferdi Tanoni said.

The agreement was signed by former Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer in Perth.

New negotiation is needed on the EEZ and continental shelf between the two countries, he said here on Tuesday.

He said the agreement had only 11 chapters  and it was clearly said in the agreement that it would be effective after ratification had been exchanged between the two countries.

However, Australia has unilaterally implemented the agreement disregarding what was said in the chapters of the agreement, he said.

"Even if the  Australian parliament has ratified the agreement implementation is still illegal  and Jakarta has to flatly reject it," he said.

He also said that the  1974 memorandum of understanding (MOU) was only a political instrument for Australia to annex the Indonesian waters around the  Pasir islands, which is known to be rich in fishes and other sea biota  as well as oil and gas reserves.

Meanwhile, Australia evaded responsibility for the damages caused by Montana oil leak  in 2009 despite the MOU signed by the two countries in 1986 on control of sea oil pollution, he said.

Tanoni, who won a citation  "Civil Justice Award Australian Lawyers Alliance 2013", queried ,"Shall we maintain bilateral relations which benefit only Australia and sacrifice our sovereignty?"
    
He said all cooperation agreements signed in the past with Australia  should be reviewed as they were not fair to Indonesia. (WDY)