ID :
117034
Fri, 04/16/2010 - 15:19
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/117034
The shortlink copeid
News Focus: INDONESIA'S OUTLYING ISLANDS NEED BETTER SUPPORTING FACILITIES
By Otniel Tamindael
Jakarta, April 16 (ANTARA) - Military officials and academic observers are drawing the government`s attention to the need of providing Indonesia`s outer-most islands with adequate supporting facilities to prevent them from being claimed by other countries.
The National Defense Forces (TNI) is being called on to make every possible effort to step up the supporting facilities at the country`s outlying islands.
"We will continue to step up the supporting facilities for our personnel who are tasked to protect the outlying islands in Riau Islands Province (Kepri)," Bukit Barisan Military Commander Maj Gen Noer Muis said in Tanjungpinag, Riau.
According to Noer Muis, the existing facilities at the outlying islands were considered insufficient and obsolete amid the rapid technological advances in today`s world.
"The existing facilities are insufficient and therefore we will continue to step them up to support the performance of our personnel posted in the country`s outermost islands," said the Bukit Barisan military commander.
According to Noer Muis, the army was in need of supporting facilities such as radar to monitor suspicious activities in and around the outlying islands.
Radar is a detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formation, and terrain.
For the outlying islands in Kepri province which borders Singapore and Malaysian, Noer Muis said, radars had been installed on the islands of Nipah, Berhala, and Sekatung Natuna.
"But supporting facilities to secure and maintain national sovereignty will be stepped up in phases in accordance with the available funds from the state budget," Muis said.
He added that a number of army personnel had been posted at several outlying islands in Kepri to ensure local security and sovereignty.
"In the proximity of Singapore and Malaysia, Kepri is a strategic area with abundant natural resources and therefore it should be protected and maintained," he said, adding that security posts would continue to be built on the province`s outlying islands to ensure the local people`s security and safety.
Meanwhile, Udayana Military Commander Brig.Gen. Rachmat Budiyanto said in East Nusa Tenggara provincial city of Kupang recently that Indonesia`s outlying islands should be secured and protected based on a political decision made by the government.
"We only make studies on the outlying islands and report the results orally and in writing to the National Defense Forces (TNI) Headquarters. But beyond that, we are only waiting for a further measure and political decision to be made by the government," Rachmat Budiyanto said.
Budiyanto made the statement on the sidelines of the transfer of position from Wira Sakti Military Resort Commander from Col. Inf. Doddy U Hargo to Col. Artillery I Dewa Ketut Siangan at the Wira Sakti Resort Command Headquarters.
According to him, the protection and management of outlying islands by TNI personnel had proven to be very effective.
"On inhabited outlying islands, people are glad and happy with our presence there to protect them," he said.
But for the protection and management of the outlying islands to be more effective, he said the government should provide a legal umbrella in the form of financial support.
Meanwhile, East Nusa Tenggara Vice Governor Esthon Foenay said on a separate occasion that the presence of TNI personnel on outlying islands was very effective because they protect and maintain the sovereignty of the state.
Foenay said the security situation on outlying islands even improved following the arrival of TNI personnel.
International law expert Welhelmus Wetan Songa of Nusa Cendna University (Undana) in Kupang once said that Indonesia`s outlying islands were potential objects of dispute with other countries if the government failed to assert ownership over them properly.
He said construction of lighthouses on the uninhabited outlying islands alone was a measure that had yet to have permanent legal validity in proving ownership in case they were claimed by a neighboring country.
Welhelmus made the remark to comment on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s statement to declare war on any country which ever tried to disturb the sovereignty and integrity of the Unitary State of Indonesian Republic (NKRI).
Indonesia has 108,000 kilometers of coastline and a total area, including an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 5.8 million square kilometers.
Under the law of the sea, an EEZ which stretches from the seaward edge of the state`s territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles from its coast is sea zone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources.
Indonesia shares land and maritime borders with 10 countries, namely India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Republic of Palau.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines how states may draw their territorial borders using baselines between the outermost points of the outermost islands.
The outermost islands also serve as the baseline to determine a country`s contiguous zones, EEZ and continental shelf.
END
Jakarta, April 16 (ANTARA) - Military officials and academic observers are drawing the government`s attention to the need of providing Indonesia`s outer-most islands with adequate supporting facilities to prevent them from being claimed by other countries.
The National Defense Forces (TNI) is being called on to make every possible effort to step up the supporting facilities at the country`s outlying islands.
"We will continue to step up the supporting facilities for our personnel who are tasked to protect the outlying islands in Riau Islands Province (Kepri)," Bukit Barisan Military Commander Maj Gen Noer Muis said in Tanjungpinag, Riau.
According to Noer Muis, the existing facilities at the outlying islands were considered insufficient and obsolete amid the rapid technological advances in today`s world.
"The existing facilities are insufficient and therefore we will continue to step them up to support the performance of our personnel posted in the country`s outermost islands," said the Bukit Barisan military commander.
According to Noer Muis, the army was in need of supporting facilities such as radar to monitor suspicious activities in and around the outlying islands.
Radar is a detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formation, and terrain.
For the outlying islands in Kepri province which borders Singapore and Malaysian, Noer Muis said, radars had been installed on the islands of Nipah, Berhala, and Sekatung Natuna.
"But supporting facilities to secure and maintain national sovereignty will be stepped up in phases in accordance with the available funds from the state budget," Muis said.
He added that a number of army personnel had been posted at several outlying islands in Kepri to ensure local security and sovereignty.
"In the proximity of Singapore and Malaysia, Kepri is a strategic area with abundant natural resources and therefore it should be protected and maintained," he said, adding that security posts would continue to be built on the province`s outlying islands to ensure the local people`s security and safety.
Meanwhile, Udayana Military Commander Brig.Gen. Rachmat Budiyanto said in East Nusa Tenggara provincial city of Kupang recently that Indonesia`s outlying islands should be secured and protected based on a political decision made by the government.
"We only make studies on the outlying islands and report the results orally and in writing to the National Defense Forces (TNI) Headquarters. But beyond that, we are only waiting for a further measure and political decision to be made by the government," Rachmat Budiyanto said.
Budiyanto made the statement on the sidelines of the transfer of position from Wira Sakti Military Resort Commander from Col. Inf. Doddy U Hargo to Col. Artillery I Dewa Ketut Siangan at the Wira Sakti Resort Command Headquarters.
According to him, the protection and management of outlying islands by TNI personnel had proven to be very effective.
"On inhabited outlying islands, people are glad and happy with our presence there to protect them," he said.
But for the protection and management of the outlying islands to be more effective, he said the government should provide a legal umbrella in the form of financial support.
Meanwhile, East Nusa Tenggara Vice Governor Esthon Foenay said on a separate occasion that the presence of TNI personnel on outlying islands was very effective because they protect and maintain the sovereignty of the state.
Foenay said the security situation on outlying islands even improved following the arrival of TNI personnel.
International law expert Welhelmus Wetan Songa of Nusa Cendna University (Undana) in Kupang once said that Indonesia`s outlying islands were potential objects of dispute with other countries if the government failed to assert ownership over them properly.
He said construction of lighthouses on the uninhabited outlying islands alone was a measure that had yet to have permanent legal validity in proving ownership in case they were claimed by a neighboring country.
Welhelmus made the remark to comment on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s statement to declare war on any country which ever tried to disturb the sovereignty and integrity of the Unitary State of Indonesian Republic (NKRI).
Indonesia has 108,000 kilometers of coastline and a total area, including an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 5.8 million square kilometers.
Under the law of the sea, an EEZ which stretches from the seaward edge of the state`s territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles from its coast is sea zone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources.
Indonesia shares land and maritime borders with 10 countries, namely India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Republic of Palau.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines how states may draw their territorial borders using baselines between the outermost points of the outermost islands.
The outermost islands also serve as the baseline to determine a country`s contiguous zones, EEZ and continental shelf.
END
