Indonesian, Malaysian Foreign Ministers Discuss Sea Boundary on Sep. 6

Jakarta Globe, August 27, 2010

Demonstrators sing songs of patriotism during a protest outside the Malaysian embassy on Thursday. Activists from a number of youth organizations staged a rally to protest against a recent incident that saw Indonesian naval officers arrested by Malaysian authorities in the disputed waters off Riau Island. (Reuters/Supri)

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Kuala Lumpur. Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa will meet with Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman on Sept 6 in Kota Kinabalu, capital of East Malaysia state of Sabah, to discuss the sea boundary between the two countries.

Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Da’i Bachtiar said the bilateral meeting would also find the best solution to avoid a repeat of incidents that could affect the close relations between the two neighbors.

“We will all learn from the incident to speed up the processes that are still pending especially with regard to the boundary between Malaysia and Indonesia which frequently causes conflicts,” he said at a press conference at the Indonesian Embassy.

On Aug 13, the enforcement division of the Indonesian Marine and Fisheries Ministry detained seven Malaysian fishermen in the Malaysian-Indonesian waters near Bintan, Riau Islands, while the Malaysian Marine Operations Force detained three enforcement officers of the Indonesian ministry.

The case had resulted in various reactions where 37 members of the Indonesian Bendera movement demonstrated in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta on Monday and hurled human feces as ‘gifts’ to Malaysia, which was alleged to have tarnished Indonesia’s image in an even worse manner.

Da’i had personally expressed regret on the feces-throwing incident and attributed the demonstration to the anger and dissatisfaction of the Indonesian people accumulated over cases involving the two countries in the past.

“In terms of ethics, I certainly don’t agree to the throwing of feces, but in terms of jurisdiction, are there any legal provisions that the police can use to prosecute in court, the demonstration is considered as an accumulation of past cases,” he said.

He said the Indonesian government also gave an assurance on the security of Malaysian nationals and other nationalities residing in Indonesia and the police were also raising security measures at the embassy and the official residence of the Malaysian Ambassador in Jakarta.

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Indonesia may gain additional marine territory west of Aceh

Antara News, Friday, August 27, 2010 17:37 WIB | National

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia may get 4,000 square kilometers of additional water territory beyond its 200-mile maritime zone off Aceh Province`s western coast, a foreign ministry official said.

"Indonesia has been proposing recognition of its right to additional water territory west of Aceh province since 2008 on the basis of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea which says that a coastal country can claim a water territory outside its 200-mile maritime zone if it can prove geologically that the sediment in the proposed territory is similar to that inside its 200-mile maritime zone," said Havaz Oegroseno, director general for international treaties and laws at the foreign ministry here on Friday.

He said a joint team consisting of officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Coordinating Agency for Land Surveys and Mapping (Bakosurtanal), Indonesian Navy, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) had conducted an initial study which showed that Indonesia had the potential right to expand its water territory namely in the west of Aceh province, south of Sumba island and north of Papua province.

"The claim was reported to the United Nations in 2008 and we have attended several meetings discussing this matter with UN representatives. The last meeting at sub-commission level which was held in New York from August 12-17 approved our claim on the waters in the west of Aceh province. A meeting at commission level will be held next week and hopefully by September 2010, Indonesia`s claim will have been fully approved," Havaz said.

According to the initial study, he said, many economic assets were contained in the 4000-square-kilometer water area in the west of Aceh province, namely polimetalic nodules (minerals useful for industrial purposes such as manufacture of mobile phone parts), minerals for biotechnological purposes and diamonds.

Specifically with regard to diamonds, Havaz could not yet confirm the existence of the precious stones in the claimed area since the Indonesian team still had to conduct a comprehensive survey on it.

"We cannot yet confirm the existence of diamonds there. However, according to the experience of several other coastal countries, diamonds are usually to be found outside the 200-mile maritime zones. We will do a full survey as soon as the UN commission approves our claim," he said.