Goh silent on extradition, sand smuggling

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Visiting Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri met for two hours to discuss terrorism in the region, but apparently avoided thorny bilateral issues such as extradition and sand mining.

During the meeting, Goh expressed Singapore's support for Indonesia in dealing with terrorism, especially after the Oct. 12 Bali blast that killed more than 190 people, mostly foreigners.

"We discussed quite deeply the terrorism threat to both Indonesia and the region. It is indeed a very grave threat," Goh said during the joint press conference with Megawati.

"The terrorist network is rather extensive...so we discussed cooperative measures in order to overcome the terrorist infrastructure in this part of the world," he added.

The city-state has repeatedly accused Indonesia of being too weak in fighting terrorism, and on Monday's meeting Goh reiterated the importance of taking stern actions against the terrorist network.

"Unfortunately for Indonesia, harm took place first before Indonesia could arrest the terrorists. The Bali bomb blast is something tragic to Indonesia," the prime minister said.

Megawati in the press briefing also cited that the two- countries found numerous joint measures that could be undertaken in the global war on terror.

"We underlined that there are a lot of things that we can do together in tackling terrorism," the president said in her brief introduction to the joint press conference.

In more concrete measures to support Indonesia, Goh said that Singapore Airlines had been promoting cheap holiday packages to Bali to express to the world that, "Bali is a safe place to go to and Indonesia is a place you can do business with."

Goh also pledged "civil service exchange programs" for officials of the two countries to learn how to do things better.

At the meeting, the two leaders also discussed how to improve economic issues that had become problematic in the region after the economic crisis that started in 1997.

Both leaders brought along with them a large number of ministers to the meeting and exchanged orchids at the nearby Bogor Botanical Garden.

Aside from these issues, Indonesia failed to secure a more concrete deal on issues of national interest such as on the extradition treaty and sand smuggling to Singapore.

Indonesian Minister for Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said Singapore remained reluctant to discuss the extradition treaty, which would allow Indonesia demand the city- state to extradite wanted criminals, including corruptors, some of whom allegedly have taken refuge in Singapore.

"They promise to study the proposed pact. ... Singapore accused us of harboring terrorists, but Singapore discreetly protects our wanted tycoons, allegedly involved in corruption practices," Yusril remarked.

Later on Monday, Goh meet the People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, who raised the issue of sand smuggling from Riau province to Singapore, and spoke of the extradition treaty with the premier.

Amien told reporters after the meeting that Goh was not interested in discussing those two issues. Nevertheless, Amien said he urged the premier not to ignore these problems.

"Both countries should discuss further on the sand mining (issue). They bought the sand from Indonesia, so please don't ignore the problem," Amien said.

"Should the problem linger, I suggest the government to stop the sand export to Singapore," he remarked.

On Tuesday, the prime minister is slated to meet Vice President Hamzah Haz and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Also on Tuesday, Goh is scheduled to meet Muslim leaders from the country's two largest Muslim organizations, the Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, before ending his working visit to Indonesia.