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.