Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam
In a bid to address security concerns over Indonesia's frontier the
government will investigate the growing trend of foreigners buying
islands in Riau Islands province, an official said Thursday.
Sea Security Coordinating Agency (Bakorkamla) commander Vice Adm.
Djoko Sumaryono told The Jakarta Post in Batam the sale of islands
to foreigners violated existing regulations.
It showed the inability of the local provincial administration to
effectively maintain security in its region, he said.
Presidential Decree No. 78/2005 on coordination in the management
of small islands on the nation's frontier areas obliged the local
administration to safeguard the islands, he said.
"Claiming ownership of parts of the beach is not allowed, let alone
owning islands. I have instructed the small islands empowerment
director at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry to
investigate the rampant selling of islands in the Riau Islands,"
Djoko said.
"If the local administration is found to be incapable of
safeguarding its areas we will take over security matters
there."
Djoko expressed his concern over the rising trend of island sales
in the province to foreigners, including Singaporeans, from local
residents. Such incidents were allowed to occur because of the weak
authority held by the provincial, mayoralty and regental
administrations in fulfilling their function.
Djoko said the most recent Riau Islands sale concerned Segayang
Island in Galang, Batam, where small resort facilities had been
owned by a Singaporean since 2000. On the 20-hectare island several
bungalows had been rented to Singaporean tourists. The business had
been operating over the last five years without any permits or
consent from officials of related offices.
It was later discovered that Segayang Island, located 50.4
kilometers south of Batam, had been sold by local residents to a
Singaporean national for Rp 55 million (US$5,789). The sale of
another island was still in the negotiation phase, Djoko said,
adding that it was on offer for Rp 100 million.
Djoko said that based on the presidential decree the regional
administration was to name all the islands. A name plate for each
island should be created and a red and white flag raised to signal
that regulations were in place there, he said.
"Bakorkamla will, together with representatives of other related
institutions, study the cases. It cannot be left just like that. It
shows the weak control of the regional administration over existing
islands," Djoko said while in Batam to introduce his agency to the
local administrations.
He said the task of allocating names to the islands had been
entrusted to the provincial administration, which would later
submit an inventory on the number of islands to the Home Affairs
Ministry before sending it on to the United Nations.