MIANGAS ISLAND BELONGS TO INDONESIA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 13 (ANTARA) - Miangas island in North Sulawesi which shares borders with Mindanao island in the Philippines clearly belongs to Indonesia. So, there is no need to kick a fuss over its ownership status, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda says.

        Electronic and print media have in the past several days focused on a report that the Philippines had included Miangas island in its tourism map and was expected to take it to the United Nations for recognition and approval under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2009.

        "We often waste time and energy to kick a fuss over a problem which we actually do not understand," the foreign minister said on Friday in reply to a question on the concern of certain quarters over the possibility of the Philippine claiming ownership status of Miangas island.

        Last week, Indonesian Consul General in Davao Lalu Malik Patarwana said in North Sulawesi that the Philippines had included Miangas and Marore islands in its tourism map which might have the consequence that the Philippines would lay claim to them.

        "If Miangas and Marore islands are annexed by the Philippines it will pose a threat to the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," the Indonesian consul general said. He said the two islands were actually recognized by the world as belonging to Indonesia.

        North Sulawesi regional legislative councillor MF Manoppo said the Indonesian government should pay attention to the matter and take a diplomatic step to tell the Philippines that the two islands belonged to Indonesia.

        Manoppo, who is a councillor from the Golkar Party, said that by including the Miangas and Marore islands into its tourism map, the Philippines had the potential to claim later on the two islands as its own.

        He said that so far, the two islands were still under the authority of and recognized by the world as belonging to Indonesia.

        Navy Chief Admiral Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno said that the Philippines could not claim Miangas island at will nor take its claim to the UN for a process under UNCLOS.

        "The Philippines cannot claim it at will. Although many Indonesians in Miangas earn a living in the Philippines, yet Miangas island lies in Indonesian territory," the Navy chief said.

        Therefore, according to Army Chief of Staff General Agustadi Sasongko, the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) had built a number of posts on the island in order to safeguard Miangas as part of the Unitary state of Indonesia.

        "We have erected a number of security posts there and established a district military resort (Koramil) in 2005 - 2007. We are also planning to build a pioneer airport," he told a hearing with the House Foreign Affairs Commission, on Wednesday.

        According to Marine and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi, there was now already an airstrip and a regular shipping service there from state-owned shipping firm PT Pelni.

        "So the government is making serious efforts to develop its outermost islands," he said.

        The minister said that Miangas Island in North Sulawesi belonged to Indonesia and had already been registered with the United Nations as one of the country's outermost islands.

        "The Philippine claim over the island is unilateral. We have already submitted a list of islands including Miangas that are part of Indonesian territory to the UN," he said after a meeting with House Commission IV members.

        Freddy said the Indonesian government had complete documents relating to the ownership of the island in the northern part of North Sulawesi province. Therefore, he said, people need not be worried it would go to the Philippines after that country recently declared it as a tourist destination.

        The island issue drew various comments from the public. Legislative candidates, Donny Lumingas and Merry Waleleng of the Functional Struggle Party, expressed regret over what they called the government's negligence that enabled the Philippines to include Miangas island in its map.

        Lumingas said there was no use for the people to give authorities to ministries and the government to handle outer islands in the country.

        "One by one, our outlying islands are annexed by other countries, either in administrative or legal terms only because we are negligent and we have adopted a wrong development paradigm," he said.

        Merry Waleleng meanwhile said that the next government should really pay heed to the empowerment of outer islands. "Since the government of Soeharto, we have been adopting a wrong development paradigm. We forget the sea and islands whereas two-thirds of the country's territory is water," Waleleng said.

        However, Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda criticized parties who created a fuss over the matter while they had no good understanding of the ownership status of the island.

       "We often waste time and energy to kick a fuss over something without knowing the real facts," the foreign minister said.

        He said when Indonesia was occupied by the Dutch and the Philippines by the United States, Miangas Island became the object of a territorial dispute between the Dutch and the United States.

        The dispute was then taken to an arbitration court. The court's sole judge, Max Hubber, eventually ruled in 1928 that the island which the Spaniards called Las Palmas belonged to the Dutch.

        "Therefore, the island now belongs to Indonesia," Wirajuda said.

        The minister said Indonesia's ownership of Miangas was confirmed in the annex or protocol of an extradition agreement between Indonesia and the Philippines.

        "So, from the legal point of view, there is no doubt about the ownership status. Politically, the Philippines has never claimed the island," he said. ***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/21:25/A/H-YH) (T.A014/A/A014/A/H-YH) 13-02-2009 21:42:39