Govt seeks more funds for military
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said on Wednesday he was proposing Rp 5 trillion (US$538 billion) in additional funds from the state budget to improve the capability of the Navy and Air Force.
He, however, could not say what kind of equipment that the two forces needed, pending further meetings with the two chiefs of staff.
"We had actually talked about the plan to allocate more funds for the Navy and Air Force earlier before the Ambalat dispute surfaced. Indeed, the case has given us a chance to make the public understand about the real condition of our military," Juwono said in response to questions of whether the new plan was caused by the naval confrontation with Malaysia two weeks ago near the Ambalat oil block off of Borneo.
The offshore oil block is located in the Sulawesi Sea, and both Malaysia and Indonesia are claiming it.
The defense budget of the world's fourth most populous country is considered very low, even compared to smaller neighboring countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia.
For the 2005 fiscal year, the government allocated over Rp 21.6 trillion for defense expenditures, accounting only for 6 percent of the state budget.
The Indonesian Military does have approximately 400,000 active troops. But much of its military equipment is in poor condition. It has two squadrons of Hercules aircraft but only a handful are operational. This has often been used by the TNI as a reason for their slow response in sending soldiers and humanitarian aid to areas hit by security disturbances or natural disasters.
Air Force spokesman First Air Marshall Sagom Tamboen said his office had initially proposed that the government procure six more Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters and spare parts for the Hercules C-130 transport planes.
"The Air Force also requires maritime aircraft to support our surveillance planes," he was quoted by Antara as saying.
Meanwhile, Navy spokesman First Adm. Abdul Malik Yusuf said his office planned to procure submarines, missiles and patrol boats equipped with rockets.
Earlier, Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Djoko Santoso said he would improve the 22 new territorial commands across the country.
The Army will recruit more soldiers, establish six more brigades, 14 infantry battalions, a Cavalry battalion, two Cavalry detachments and a missile detachment to strengthen its force, he explained.
The Army also has a third division of elite troops based in Sorong, Papua.
"Ideally, we need more than 300,000 soldiers to guard this vast territory," Djoko said. The Army now has around 270,000 troops.
Commenting on the Army's plan, Juwono said: "Yes, we support it. And if we have enough in the budget, we will also disburse funds for that."