This clarification was delivered by Director General of Marine and Marine Space Management at the Ministry, Koswara, in response to reports of several small Indonesian islands being listed for sale on an international trading platform.
"The term ‘selling islands’ doesn’t exist. What occurs is a transfer of land rights," said Koswara in Jakarta on Monday.
Such transfers can take the form of leasing, but they do not imply that islands—being sovereign territory—can be bought or sold.
He stressed that foreign nationals cannot own islands in Indonesia, as islands are inseparable from their surrounding seas. The very concept of selling islands runs counter to Indonesia’s principle of state sovereignty over its archipelagic territory.
The management of small islands is clearly governed under Law Number 1 of 2014 concerning the Management of Coastal Areas and Small Islands, including restrictions on land ownership.
According to Koswara, non-governmental land control on small islands is capped at 70 percent for islands over 1,000 hectares. The state must retain at least 30 percent of the land to safeguard national sovereignty and ensure that the strategic role of such islands remains under government control.
Koswara further emphasized that islands and seas form a unified ecosystem. Therefore, the use of coastal areas requires legal access through the Compliance of Marine Space Utilization Activities (KKPRL).
"If an island were sold, we wouldn’t grant legal access to it," he added.
Recently, the public was alarmed by online advertisements for the sale of four islands in the Anambas Islands District, Riau Islands, on the foreign website privateislandonline.com.
The four islands—Ritan, Tokongsendok, Nakok, and Mala—are all located within a designated conservation area. Of these, Ritan Island measures 0.43 km², while Tokongsendok spans just 0.07 km².
In response, the government is coordinating with law enforcement to ensure that no illegal transactions occur in connection with the use of Indonesia’s small islands.
The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs is also working to block sites that illegally market Indonesian islands and has helped establish a Joint Supervisory Team via a decree from the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs to bolster enforcement efforts.
The team is responsible for monitoring the legal use of small islands, coordinating enforcement against violations, overseeing land certification on outermost small islands, and promoting awareness of investment rules and legal procedures among the public and potential investors.
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Reporter: Muhammad Harianto, Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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