Jakarta, Ekuatorial – Apart from underlining ‘work, work, and work’ on his first state speech, Indonesia’s seventh president Joko Widodo calling for more attention on maritime issues as the country’s initial power.
“We have to work very hard to return Indonesia’s [place] as a maritime country. Oceans, seas, straits, and bays are the future of our civilization,” said President Widodo on his inauguration speech at the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) plenary, on Monday (20/10), in Jakarta.
President Widodo, or mostly known as Jokowi, addressed for the first time in front of as much as 600 people along with heads of states and world leaders, including Australian Prime Ministry Tony Abbot, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and also Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Citing on Indonesian Navy’s motto “Jalesveva Jayamahe”, meaning At Sea We Are Glorious, President Widodo said that the country had long abandoned its ancestors’ maritime strength.
“We have turned our backs on seas, turned our backs on oceans, and turned our backs on straits and bays for so long. It is time to bring “Jalesveva Jayamahe”, At Sea We Are Glorious, as our ancestors’ motto in the past back to this country,” he said.
At the end of his 11-minutes speech, President Widodo referred to Indonesia’s first president Sukarno advice that to built a strong, prosperous and peaceful nation then people must adopt the essence of Cakrawarti Samudra which carries the meaning of brave sailors who sailed through waves.
“As the ship’s captain trusted by the people, I invite all citizens to aboard the ship of Republic of Indonesia and sail together towards Indonesia Raya [Great Indonesia],” he said. “We will set sail. We will face storms and strong waves with our own strength. And, I will stand under people’s will and the Constitution.”
Abdul Halim, secretary general of People’s Coalition for Fisheries Justice Indonesia (KIARA), said that he welcomed the president’s vision through Jalesveva Jayamahe until 2019.
“The statement [Jalesveva Jayamahe] is correct and it will take follow up steps and programs, especially in improving fishermen’s welfare,” said Halim. “The Global Maritime Center [idea] can be achieved through maximizing human resources in the country and proper budget allocation.”
The idea to push maritime issues as the spotlight has been shown by Jokowi-JK during their presidential campaigns. The pair even opted to deliver their victory speech aboard a pinisi boat, a traditional wooden boat, at Sunda Kelapa, Jakarta’s old port, in July.
In addition, reported by Jakarta Globe that Jokowi will have four coordinating ministries, one would be coordinating ministry for maritime affairs, natural resources, and the environment on his administration.
The move was appreciated by civil society. However, Halim said that maritime affairs should be separated from the environment. “Because, it [environment] does not only deal with marine issues,” he said adding that it was important to have coordinating ministries to deal with maritime and marine issues. “It is important to have a coordinating ministry because marine and maritime issues are related to natural resources management which were handle by [different] sectors, for instance undersea oil and gas mining.” Fidelis E. Satriastanti
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