Jakarta refuses to let go of Seribu islands

JAKARTA: The city flatly refused on Monday to hand over control of any of the Seribu islands to Banten province.

"The Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) are in the territory of Jakarta," Governor Sutiyoso told reporters after installing a number of new city officials at City Hall.

Banten province has claimed that 22 islets in the Thousand Islands are located in its territory, and demanded that the Jakarta administration hand them over.

Banten, which used to be part of West Java, was made a new province two years ago.

Sutiyoso said Law No. 34/1999 stipulated that the Thousand Islands belonged to Jakarta.

Last year, the city administration upgraded the status of the Thousand Islands from a district to a regency.

The poverty rate in the regency is relatively high, and ownership disputes have arisen over many of the islands that have been developed into holiday resorts.

The city put forward a plan last month to open casinos in the Thousand Islands, though the ensuing public controversy makes it seem unlikely that the plan will be realized any time soon. -- JP