REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUPANG -- Australia's Green Party Senator Siewert and Indonesia's Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan discussed the Montara oil spill, which had contaminated the Timor Sea for the past eight years, in Jakarta, Monday.

"Following the meeting, we are hoping our counterparts in Australia will help the Indonesian government resolve the contamination in the waters," Luhut stated in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the head of the Care for West Timor Foundation (YPTB), Ferdi Tanoni, who was facilitating the meeting, said the indigenous groups of Timor, Rote, Sabu, and Alor expected the two countries to immediately take concrete measures to halt the contamination.

"Senator Siewert has an important role to play in strategically resolving the problem, because she had proposed to the Australia federal government to set up a commission for an investigation into the Montara oil spill in 2009," he informed Antara.

Apart from the commission, Tanoni noted the senator also initiated a hearing between the Australian parliaments with her country's Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in 2010.

"Following the hearing, the parliament found the AMSA had sprayed a super-toxic chemical dispersal of Corexit 9500 and 9572 A to engulf the oil in the seabed," he remarked.

Some 24 hours after the spraying, the chemicals poisoned lives, including those of fish and plants in the waters.

After the hearing, the Senator had called upon the Australian government to take the responsibility of restoring the seas after the oil spill.

"In 2014, the senator visited West Timor and met with the fishermen who were affected by the spill. During the visit, she said her country would help the community in rehabilitating the seas and the people's livelihood," Tanoti reiterated.

According to its official site, the Australian government had launched some studies to examine the environmental impacts of the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea.

"The Australian Government, in conjunction with the company responsible for the rig, PTTEP Australasia, developed a long-term environmental monitoring program to understand the long-term impacts of the spill on the marine environment," the site stated.

In its latest report on the oil spill's impact on wildlife, the Australian government's study reported: "There is no evidence of the Montara oil spill having a significant impact on seabirds and shorebirds in the Sahul Shelf region."

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