Government awards 65 marine experts

JAKARTA (JP): The government has given awards to members of the Indonesian delegation which took part in the campaign to win international recognition for the archipelagic state concept.

The plaques were presented to 65 people including the chief delegate Prof. Dr. Mochtar Kusuma-Atmadja, who is also a former foreign minister.

Indonesia fought for nearly 20 years to have the archipelagic state concept included in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Sea of Law which only became enforceable on Nov. 16.

Under the concept, which earlier met resistance from developed countries, Indonesia's sovereignty stretches to include all the waters that lie between the 17,000 islands that span across the archipelago, including the straits that have up to now been considered international sea passages.

The awards were given by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas at a dinner reception at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Sunday night to mark the start of the implementation of the UN convention.

"This success is one of the pinnacle accomplishments of Indonesia's diplomatic struggle," Alatas said.

Alatas symbolically presented the plaques to six members of the delegation, including Mochtar, retired Vice Marshal Soedarmono, Mrs. Abdullah Kamil, Hasyim Djalal, TG Napitupulu and Chaerul A. Sani who represented the late Chaidir A. Sani.

Alatas in his address said that with the international recognition of the archipelagic concept, Indonesia needs to study the implementation of the sea laws.

He said an inter-ministerial team is now taking inventory of the various aspects of the law.

According to Mochtar Kusuma-Atmadja the international recognition of Indonesia's seas was just an initial step to a larger responsibility for the nation. "What we need to enhance is our ability to manage and exploit it responsibly."

Under the UN convention Indonesia's sovereignty, which originally covered five million square kilometers, has now expanded to eight million with the inclusion of 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone and the continental seabed.

"The archipelagic concept is extremely vital to Indonesia...The seas no longer function as a separator anymore; on the contrary, it is now a unifying factor," Alatas remarked.

The developed countries's prime objection to the convention was primarily over the question of who has authority to regulate the exploration and exploitation of the undersea resources, particularly in the continental seabed.

Apart from Indonesia, countries such as the Philippines, Mauritius and Fiji will also benefit from the internationally recognized archipelagic concept. (emb/mds)