"We are here to ensure our outermost islands are still in Indonesia's territory. If we remain silent, then those islands will be gone," the ministry's Director General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision, Pung Nugroho Saksono, stated in a press conference on Monday.
He then drew attention to the scheme employed by foreign parties to claim the outermost islands in Indonesia, as in the Sipadan-Ligitan case.
"The island once was managed by foreign investors (PMA) with Indonesian employees. Gradually, the Indonesian citizens were laid off one by one and replaced by foreigners," he pointed out.
Saksono stated that foreigners seized control of the island and then asserted ownership by wielding simple statistical data.
Hence, he sought continued support from all parties for marine tourism while pressing for sustained vigilance on such practices.
The Sipadan-Ligitan case is a dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over ownership of two islands in the Makassar Strait, namely Sipadan Island with coordinates 4°6′52.86″N 118°37′43.52″E and Ligitan Island with coordinates 4°9′N 118°53′E.
The dispute was then brought to the International Court of Justice, where the Malaysian government won the case.
Reflecting on the Sipadan and Ligitan case, the Indonesian government is keen to ensure that such a case does not recur.
Earlier, the KKP Ministry had sealed two resorts in the Maratua Islands, Berau, East Kalimantan, with no permit documents for using small islands.
Maratua, one of the country's outermost islands, requires the government's special attention.
The two sealed resorts, namely PT MID and PT NMR, do not possess permit documents comprising approval for the suitability of marine space utilization activities (PKKPRL), permits for water tourism activities without business permits, and permits for the use of small islands.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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