Earth is indeed an ocean planet."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia as a big maritime nation needs to have an ocean law for an integrated maritime management, Minister of Marine and Fisheries Sharif Cicip Soetardjo said.
Indonesia must have a law on maritime affairs, Executive Chairman of the Indonesian Maritime Council (DEKIN) Sharif C. Soetardjo said in a workshop on "A law on ocean is a must to develop a maritime nation," here on Monday.
The country has a number of regulations on the maritime aspect but some of them are overlapping with each other and not integrated, Soetardjo, concurrently the maritime affairs and fisheries minister, said.
The law on maritime affairs should concern the mainstreaming and acceleration of the national maritime development in the future.
Besides, the law should be outward looking for the country`s maritime interests, function as a breakthrough to address the problems regarding the existing related regulations, and refer to the UNCLOS 1982 as well as the Indonesian geographic condition.
Currently, the government`s bill on maritime affairs has been included in the National Legislation Program 2013 at the initiative of the House of Representatives (DPR).
The academic documents for the bill will be prepared by a team consisting of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), DPR, and the National Maritime Council (DEKIN).
The workshop was organized coinciding with the World Ocean Day which falls on June 8. This year`s theme is "Together We Have The Power To Protect The Ocean".
Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias in his speech on the occasion of
World Oceans Day said Earth is the only planet known to have liquid water on its surface. It is also the only planet known to contain life. The ocean gave birth to this life and constitutes over 90 percent of the Earth's habitable space.
"Earth is indeed an ocean planet," he said.
(Uu.F001/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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