"Families have experienced desperation,anger,tragedy and rising debts … People have been denied the answers that they should have duly received … We believe that it is appropriate and well overdue for Australia to ensure that appropriate information is received by communities about what happened to their homes and livelihoods and for that information to be factual,accurate and based on independent science."
The villagers of Landu island,off the east coast of Rote island,say they were amongst the hardest hit because of their close proximity to the Australian coast.
"All the seaweed just died – all of it. Nothing was left,"Landu village chief Semuel Messak told Fairfax Media.
"At first we didn't know why,till we heard about the oil spill. Before the spill,we could catch up to 100 fish each time we went out. Now,even after all these years,it's still difficult,maybe just 10-15 fish each time we go out to sea. We couldn't look for another job,because being fishermen (and seaweed farmers) is all the villagers know how to do. It was only by the grace of God we survived."
Nikodemus Manefa,a seaweed farmer whom Fairfax Media found tending his crop at Mulut Seribu in Rote recalls:"the seaweed turned white and fell off the string".
PTTEP Australasia has repeatedly said that to date it has not received any credible evidence that oil from Montara caused damage to the environment in West Timor.
It points to theMontara Environmental Monitoring Program which showed there was no long-term damage to the marine environment,notably at various reefs and shoals in Australian waters closest to Montara.
The company says independent studies published by the Australian Environment Department found 98 per cent of Montara oil stayed in Australian waters.
However the Australian Lawyers Alliance says the evidence it has gathered is sufficient to trigger an independent,scientific investigation – which it says PTTEP should fund.
It calls on the Australian government to negotiate with the governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste,affected communities and PTTEP Australasia to ensure the commencement of the investigation.
A DFAT spokeswoman said:"The Australian government is aware that community groups in East Nusa Tenggara are interested in having research undertaken on the impact of the Montara oil spill in Indonesia,and we have conveyed this to PTTEP Australasia."
The Australian government has repeatedly said it has no jurisdiction to compel companies to perform research in another country.
But the Australian Lawyers Alliance national president Greg Phelps said the Australian government does have jurisdiction to be proactive and offer Indonesia assistance to ensure proper research is conducted.
"The poverty and disadvantage of the reported victims is no excuse to ignore the effects of this disaster,"Mr Phelps said.
The report says the Australian government's response is in stark contrast to US President Barack Obama's response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico just months after Montara.
"In fact,it is in the national interest to break this stalemate,given that our relationship with Indonesia has previously been described as'perhaps our most important relationship',"the report says.
With Amilia Rosa
Follow FairfaxForeign on Twitter