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Jakarta – Deputy Chair of the MPR, Syarief Hasan, reminded the importance of immediately strengthening the Maritime Security Agency (Badan Keamanan Laut) to maintain the sovereignty of Indonesia’s marine waters.
“All sea security institutions must be one door under Bakamla,” he said, through his written statement, in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He said that at a Webinar carried out by the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative entitled “Strengthening the Indonesian Maritime Security System”.
The senior Democrat politician assessed that Indonesia’s maritime security system was not in line with expectations because there were approximately seven institutions that became Indonesian sea guards but were not supported by a good coordination system.
As a result, Syarifuddin Hasan said, often caused overlapping authorities at sea.
According to him, so far Bakamla, which was formed based on Presidential Regulation No. 178/2014, has not yet optimized its performance, especially since the budget and fleet have not yet reached ideal conditions.
“It needs to be strengthened through budgeting and ‘unity of command’ mechanisms where Bakamla, Polairut, KPLP, Director General of Customs, KKP, and other institutions are under Bakamla’s command,” he said.
The member of the House of Representatives Commission I explained that there were three main aspects in building Indonesia’s security, namely the police aspect, the military aspect, and the diplomatic aspect.
“The first approach that must be taken to safeguard the Indonesian seas is to strengthen the Indonesian marine security institutional system which has not been unified in protecting the sea,” said Syarief.
Hasan said that Indonesia must also build military force to provide security and strengthen Indonesia’s defense, especially at the border.
However, he said, Indonesia must prioritize diplomacy to avoid potential war that might occur, especially in the South China Sea which borders North Natuna waters.
“Strengthening marine security institutions must continue to prioritize aspects of diplomacy. Therefore, maritime security is also related to politics, law, foreign relations, and economy. The government must take SBY’s diplomatic way with the spirit of million friends and zero enemies,” he said.
As an illustration, he explained, Indonesia’s sea area reached 6.32 million square kilometers or nearly 62 percent of Indonesia’s total territory was inhabited by almost 37 percent of fish species and has a fishery potential of 65 million tons per year.
On the other hand, Indonesia borders directly with 10 neighboring countries, and only reached agreement on the full sea border only with Papua New Guinea.
“This potentiality must be well guarded, especially in Indonesia’s border areas,” he said. (Ant)
*English by Tokoh.ID system.
