As the world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia is not paying enough serious attention to the marine sector. This is expressed by International Maritime Law experts, Prof. Hasjim Djalal, at a discussion, Jakarta, Saturday (5/4). He compares it with China and Russia, that is only have a few territorial waters. Currently, the two countries are doing a concession for sea floor management, China in Pacific and Indian oceans, while Russia in Atlantic Ocean.
Hasjim also mentioned the lack of defense budget to keep state sovereignty. With broad waters 6.2 million square mile and surrounded by 13.466 island, need more serious attention. Indonesia’s defence budget never exceeded 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) or just $ 83 trillion rupiah, a very small amount to keep a very broad region, said Hasjim who also initiated in the establishment of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982.
On different occasions, Head of Department of The Navy Information, Admiral I TNI (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Indonesian National Armed Forces), Untung Suropati said, the country’s fishery losses reaching 218 trillion per year. According to him, the losses caused by the wrong management pattern. “If state wants to be respected and appreciated by other countries, then raise the Navy. If the State wants to be prosperous, then change the vision into maritime rather than continental as now,” said Untung during seminar in Purwokerto.
Preventive Action
If managed properly, the Indonesian territorial waters has a very rich potential. The Government study revealed that the State could earn at least 1.2 trillion US dollars per year from the fishing sector, infrastructure and marine transportation industries, marine, nautical tourism, marine services, and resources of small island Territories. This value is greater than Indonesia’s GDP, which amounted 1 trillion US dollars per year.
Related to TNI effort in protecting territorial and responds to violations that often occurs in our Indonesian territorial waters, Expert Staff Of TNI Commander, Col. Dr. Ivan Yulivan said that they have several regular courses. Ivan explained that the TNI AL through maritime security coordinating board (Bakorkamla) synergize with 13 agencies that have a role in the sea, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (CTF), Customs and the Department of Transportation.
“TNI AL through west and east fleet run a routine operation throughout the year to fill vacant areas around Indonesian territorial waters. Besides, some operations such as securing outlying island, rig, the border is also conducted on a regular basis. In the future, TNI AL will be strengthened with two submarine that is currently being ordered from South Korea,” said Ivan.
Whereas, Hasjim argues that Government should seriously in the future to fight for regulatory, infrastructure improvements, and capital so that the wealth of the sea can be managed to bring prosperity. Azhari Fauzi[:]