Low funds hamper Navy: Official

Low funds hamper Navy: Official

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The limited annual budget allocated for the Navy has caused
its poor performance in maintaining security and national defense
throughout the archipelago's waters, an official said.

Navy spokesman Vice Adm. Franky Kayhatu acknowledged on
Saturday that the poor performance of the Navy in maintaining
defense and security had made the nation prone to escalating
naval threats, including illegal fishing by foreign vessels.

"Actually we need many more ships. But we must be realistic
and make adjustments," he said.

Franky said that the budget allocation for the Navy had
decreased over the last three years, especially after the
economic crisis which hit the country in 1997.

"We understand our current economic condition. We hope that
the economy will recover soon so that we will benefit from it,"
he told The Jakarta Post.

In the 2001-2002 draft budget, the defense budget will reach
Rp 9.40 trillion (US$989.47 million). But military observer
Kusnanto Anggoro said most of the budget was allocated for
routine expenditure which included salaries and administrative
costs.

"The budget is not sufficient to build infrastructure," he
added.

Franky said that due to the shortage of funds all military
exercises had been dropped and would be replaced with indoor
simulations.

Kusnanto concurred, saying that the Navy badly needs upgrading
especially to help counter illegal fishing by foreign vessels,
which causes the nation to suffer losses of US$4 billion per
year.

"We need comprehensive development of the Navy. But we must be
realistic since we have insufficient budget," chairman of the
House of Representatives Commission I for defense affairs Ibrahim
Ambong said on Friday.

Ibrahim recalled that during his recent trip to East
Kalimantan's Navy fleet base, he realized that the Navy was in
need of a larger fleet.

"Currently, the largest portion of the budget is allocated for
the Army. It's time for us to develop the Navy because our
geographical condition requires a larger fleet to deal with daily
duties," he said.

The Army receives the biggest portion of the defense budget
because it has the largest number of personnel. Data shows that
the number of personnel in the Army reached about 200,000, while
the Navy only had 47,000 personnel and the Air Force 23,000.

A similar concern was raised by fellow legislator Aisyah Aminy
from the United Development Party (PPP), who said that the lack
of infrastructure had become the main obstacle for the Navy to
perform well.

"I think the government has to pay serious attention to the
Navy," she told the Post.

A lack of budget allocated funds was also mentioned in a book
issued in 1998 by the Navy. In the book titled "The Navy toward a
better future", it explained how it had to cut spending in order
to survive.

The economic crisis has prompted the Navy to modify old ships
instead of purchasing new ones for defense purposes.

Kusnanto said the current land-based defense doctrine that
focused only on the development of the Army should be revised.
"The doctrine adopted by the military is no longer appropriate,"
he said.

Despite the fact that the country has the longest coastline in
the world, he said, the TNI had only developed a defense system
in anticipation of land-based attacks. "Rather than improving
strategies for guerrilla war, the military should develop a naval
defense system as well," he said.