She noted that Miangas island in Talaut district and Marore island in Sangihe district were close to the maritime boundary between Indonesia and the Philippines.
"The government will give serious attention to the two outlying islands in North Sulawesi and the other ones in the republic," Paula said, after a meeting with the local government officials here.
According to her, the government`s plans with regard to the outlying islands would materialize only after the bill on Indonesian islands was passed.
"The bill on Indonesian islands has been discussed and it is a just a matter of time before it is implemented," Paula said.
She explained that the government`s plans would be realized through allocation of funds for acceleration of the islands' development.
Further, Paula added that, beside the acceleration of islands' development, cross-border problems were also regulated in the bill.
She said the bill would deal with regulation of not only the infrastructure development on the islands, but also border areas between the islands in order to reduce border dispute.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
