Indonesia, Australia urged for responsibility against oil spill-over in Timor Sea

Indonesia and Australia urged for responsibility on oil spill-over in Timor Sea as the incident triggered a severe environmentally impact, a minister said in Jakarta on Thursday.

"Indonesia and Australian are in the same position, meaning that we share same concern on the oil spill-over," said Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, accompanied by his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith in a joint press conference.

Marty added that bilateral talks between him and Smith also discussed on cooperation to seek responsibility from a Thai-based company PTEEP Australasia, the operator of bursting Montara oil well.

"In fact, we will form an advocacy to seek for responsibility," he said.

Oil spill-over caused by the bursting oil well in Timor Sea on August 21, 2009 has polluted about 90,000 kilometers square of the area waters. Out of the total spill-over reach, 75 percent are in Indonesian waters.

The vast reach of the spill-over has been threatening life of hundreds of fish species and other marine biota as well as thousands of wild animals in Timor Sea.

Source: Xinhua