Jakarta could lose 20 islands: Official

Jakarta could lose 20 islands: Official

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta could lose 20 islands located in the Thousand Islands
regency as a result of the revision of Law No. 34/1999 on Jakarta
as a special administration, an official said on Tuesday.

The revision is based on Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy,
which stipulates that the islands -- some of which have been
developed into tourist areas -- should be part of Banten
province.

Among them are the islands of Cipir, Onrus, Rambut, Untung
Jaya, Bokor, Lancangkecil, Laki, Kerbau, Pabelokan, Arminia and
Sebira, according to the chairman of the National Survey and
Mapping Coordinating Body (Bakosurtanal), R.W. Matindas.

Article 3 of Law No. 22/1999 states that a province's
territory includes all land and sea as far as 12 miles out from
the coastline, which in the case of Banten would include the 20
islands in the Thousands Island regency.

However, based on Law No. 34/1999 on Jakarta as a special
administration, all of the islands in the Thousand Islands are
part of Jakarta's territory.

The issue came up during a hearing between the House of
Representatives and Bakosurtanal, as part of the revision of Law
No. 34/1999.

Matindas said during the hearing that the House should discuss
the issue of the sea border between Jakarta and Banten as part of
the revision of the law.

"Considering that Jakarta's territory is directly bordered by
Banten province, the revision of Jakarta's borders cannot be
separated from the establishment of Banten province," Matindas
said.

The revision of Law No. 34/1999 was begun by the House's
Legislative Body late last year, and the process is now in the
hands of a House special committee.

The deputy chairman of the special committee, Ma'ruf Amin,
said the main goal in revising the law was to make Jakarta more
democratic, including establishing rules for direct gubernatorial
and mayoral elections and creating a Mayoralty/Regency Council.

The hearing on Tuesday was part of the special committee's
effort to seek input on the revision of the law. The committee
has so far held hearings with the West Java administration and
the West Java Council, the Banten administration and the Banten
Council, as well as experts from various universities.

The committee will meet with the Jakarta City Council on
Wednesday and Governor Sutiyoso sometime in the future.

"Hopefully, the revised law can be approved by the House
during the next session (sometime around August) ," Ma'ruf told
The Jakarta Post.

Matindas stressed the need to resolve border disputes between
provinces across the country to prevent future disputes.

"In the case of the border between the provinces of Jakarta
and Banten, it is up to the House to make a decision," Matindas
said.

Ma'ruf said the House had collected information from relevant
parties in order to find a win-win solution to resolve the
dispute between Banten and Jakarta over the 20 islands.

Banten has repeatedly demanded that it be given control over
the islands.