They said the chopper was owned by private company Sabah Air Aviation."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A researcher from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Rizal Sukma said that Indonesia and Malaysia should further discuss territorial border issues following a border violation incident by Sabah Air Aviations helicopter on Sebatik Island recently.

"Indonesia and Malaysia should take advantage the Joint Border Commission set up by the two countries," Rizal Sukma said here on Wednesday.

The Commission, he noted, should not only focuses on determining the boundary and resolving border cases which are yet to finish.

According to him, the forum should also discuss additional agenda namely how to avoid border violations.

"So the forum can be used to resolve border cases which are yet to be dealt with, and to avoid border violations," he remarked.

Earlier, Malaysias Sabah Air Aviation has conveyed an apology to the Indonesian Consulate General in Kinabalu for wrongly landing its helicopter on Indonesias Sebatik Island, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

"They said the chopper was owned by private company Sabah Air Aviation. The pilot and the company conveyed their apology to the Indonesian Consulate General in Kinabalu," Spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry Arrmanatha Nasir stated here on Tuesday.

Following the incident, the ministry had communicated with Deputy Ambassador of Malaysia to Indonesia Roseli Abdul.

It had expressed concern over the incident wherein a Malaysian helicopter had landed without permission on a helipad on Indonesias Sebatik Island in Nunukan, North Kalimantan, on June 28.

The Malaysian diplomat explained that the helicopter had landed on a helipad in Sebatik Island as the pilot thought it was Malaysian territory.

The chopper had initially tried to locate a helipad in Malaysias Sebatik region, but the helipad there was inundated and not visible.

When they realized they had landed on the wrong helipad, they took off immediately.

"Realizing that it was the wrong helipad, they took off immediately. The helicopter had still been running after landing," he remarked.

Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had been aboard the chopper, heading for a working visit to Sungai Melayu in the Malaysian part of Sebatik.

In addition, according to information obtained from the Tarakan Airbase, Malaysian warships had recently been spotted illegally entering the waters of Ambalat in the district of Nunukan on nine occasions. They had to be warned before they turned back.***2***

UU.A063/f001)



(T.F001/A/B003/F001) 02-07-2015 14:00:28

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