The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MNE) Jose Luis Guterres has vowed to resolve the Naktuka land dispute in Oe-cusse district in 2015.
Minister Guterres said negotiations between the Timorese and Indonesian governments are ongoing.
“We hope to complete the border limitation process within this year,” said Minister Guterres at MNE in Pantai Kelapa, Dili.
He added the Indonesian government is maintaining its position of not handing over Naktuka to Timor-Leste because it considers it to the part of Indonesia.
“We are still in talks with them,” the minister said also.
Minister Guterres added also that approximately 88% of the land border between Timor-Leste and Indonesia has been agreed to with the exception of the Naktuka border area.
Meanwhile Member of Parliament MP Inacio Moreira said the Naktuka land dispute between the two nations was a complex one and that if the government is able to solve it in 2015 then that will be a significant step forward.
“We’ll wait just and see whether it gets resolved,” said MP Moreira.
He said that Naktuka belongs and is historically part of Timor-Leste from times of the ancestors.
He added the government needs to collect all the evident to inform its approach with the Indonesian government so the dispute can be resolved.
“This information is very important. We need to undertake research to know the origins of the land,” said MP Moreira.
