ID :
64740
Mon, 06/08/2009 - 18:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/64740
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AMBALAT SHOULD BE MAINTAINED, LEGISLATORS SAY
Jakarta, June 7 (ANTARA) - The status of the Ambalat block in the Sulawesi Sea should be maintained as part of the Unitary State of Indonesian Republic (NKRI), legislators here said.
The statement was made by a number of House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I members at a working meeting with Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono here on Monday.
"A final decision about Ambalat's status should be made immediately because it is not a matter of two overlapping claims but a claim (by a foreign country) to an integral part of Indonesian territory," House Commission I member RK Sembiring said.
The working meeting was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widido AS and National Defense Forces (TNI) Chief Gen Djoko Santoso/
Sembiring said Malaysia was not an archipelagic country that could arbitrarily determine its sea borders with Indonesia.
"As long as the Ambalat issue is unsolved, Malaysia will continue to claim it," Sembiring said.
Another House Commission I member, Hadjrianto Tohari, said at the meeting. the seriousness of the Ambalat crisis should not be underestimated, although Indonesia's position in the dispute was not the same as in the case of the Sipadan and Legitan islands.
"Anyway, it has something to do with our sovereignty and therefore a final decision should be made immediately. We must decide whether or we will wage war on Malaysia ," Hadjrianto Tohari said.
The e meeting was also attended by Army Chief of Staff Gen Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo, Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Dehy Purdijatno, and Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Subandrio.
Meanwhile, TNI Headquarters spokesman Commodore Sagom Tamboen said here recently that the Ambalat Block was part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).
"Whoever enters the area (without permission) violates the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia," Sagom Tamboen said.
He said the TNI had never stated that the Ambalat Block was an area in a disputed status.
"The Ambalat Block is part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia based on the international law of the seas," he said.
Therefore, he said, the Indonesian military would continue to carry out safeguarding operations in the area.
In the meantime, Indonesia had so far sent 36 protest notes to Malaysia about border violation committed by Malaysian patrol boats in Ambalat waters.
"The 36th protest note was sent to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday (June 4)," Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Friday.
The latest protest note was conveyed after the foreign ministry had obtained details on the realities on the ground from the Indonesian Navy, he said.
The navy, he said, had given a chronological report that included such details as the dates of the incursions or activities of the Malaysian patrol boats in Indonesian territorial waters.
By sending the protest notes, the Indonesian government wanted to make it plain that Ambalat was an area subject to Indonesian sovereignty, he said. ***
The statement was made by a number of House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I members at a working meeting with Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono here on Monday.
"A final decision about Ambalat's status should be made immediately because it is not a matter of two overlapping claims but a claim (by a foreign country) to an integral part of Indonesian territory," House Commission I member RK Sembiring said.
The working meeting was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widido AS and National Defense Forces (TNI) Chief Gen Djoko Santoso/
Sembiring said Malaysia was not an archipelagic country that could arbitrarily determine its sea borders with Indonesia.
"As long as the Ambalat issue is unsolved, Malaysia will continue to claim it," Sembiring said.
Another House Commission I member, Hadjrianto Tohari, said at the meeting. the seriousness of the Ambalat crisis should not be underestimated, although Indonesia's position in the dispute was not the same as in the case of the Sipadan and Legitan islands.
"Anyway, it has something to do with our sovereignty and therefore a final decision should be made immediately. We must decide whether or we will wage war on Malaysia ," Hadjrianto Tohari said.
The e meeting was also attended by Army Chief of Staff Gen Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo, Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Dehy Purdijatno, and Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Subandrio.
Meanwhile, TNI Headquarters spokesman Commodore Sagom Tamboen said here recently that the Ambalat Block was part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).
"Whoever enters the area (without permission) violates the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia," Sagom Tamboen said.
He said the TNI had never stated that the Ambalat Block was an area in a disputed status.
"The Ambalat Block is part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia based on the international law of the seas," he said.
Therefore, he said, the Indonesian military would continue to carry out safeguarding operations in the area.
In the meantime, Indonesia had so far sent 36 protest notes to Malaysia about border violation committed by Malaysian patrol boats in Ambalat waters.
"The 36th protest note was sent to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday (June 4)," Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Friday.
The latest protest note was conveyed after the foreign ministry had obtained details on the realities on the ground from the Indonesian Navy, he said.
The navy, he said, had given a chronological report that included such details as the dates of the incursions or activities of the Malaysian patrol boats in Indonesian territorial waters.
By sending the protest notes, the Indonesian government wanted to make it plain that Ambalat was an area subject to Indonesian sovereignty, he said. ***
