"A memorandum of understanding on the program to collect data on the unnamed islands will be produced and be carried out soon," Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Indroyono Soesilo said here on Monday.
To carry out the program, he stated that numerous relevant parties still needed to hold meetings, particularly with scientists.
Later, a team will be sent to the unnamed islands for further studies. These will be carried out using warship KRI Rigel, which is an oceanographic type of vessel. Its capability can be taken advantage of to conduct sea surveys.
Soesilo further noted that there were at least 4,000 unnamed islands in Indonesia. While as many as 13,000 islands have been given names so far, there is a possibility that the unnamed ones will be claimed by other countries.
The program to take stock of these islands will progress with the naming of the anonymous islands.
"We still cannot ascertain the number of nameless islands. We have to plan the program maturely because the operations of one research ship can cost up to Rp100 million per day. Without mature preparations, the program will require significant funding," the minister cautioned.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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