Ministry plans defense against invitation force
Ministry plans defense against invitation force
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Defense is designing a new
defense plan to anticipate the possibility of an invitation force
coming to the country in the interest of another humanitarian
mission.
Speaking in a media briefing on Tuesday, the ministry's
secretary-general, Lt. Gen. Sugiono, said national defense will
in the future come under dangerous threat not from invasion from
foreign countries but from foreign invitation forces, as happened
in East Timor last year.
"It is a fact that physical invasion from outside the country
is not the situation that we have to worry about. Whether we like
it or not, foreign countries will enter the country if they are
invited," Sugiono said.
He contended that it has become a common trend in the world
that international troops are allowed to go into a country for
reasons of genocide, human rights violations and environmental
issues.
Last year, during the East Timor mayhem such action happened
in Indonesia and Sugiono said certain parties recently have asked
for international help due to the continuing clashes in the
country.
For that reason the ministry is developing a new defense
design to minimize the possibility of certain parties requesting
assistance from foreign troops, Sugiono added.
The new defense design is expected to involve participation by
both community and local authorities because of the
implementation of regional autonomy starting from Jan. 1, 2001.
"The defense issues are too important to be discussed only by
the military and state officers, the general public also has to
provide input and be responsible for the national defense,"
Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said.
Juwono further stated the defense design will focus on the sea
and improve the ability of the Indonesian Navy in accordance with
the possible threats to the country, without having to sacrifice
the interests of the Army and the Air Force.
The ministry also disclosed on Tuesday some irregularities in
the ministry-owned enterprises and foundations. An internal audit
by a special team of auditors will be conducted on these
enterprises.
The ministry's inspector general Lt. Gen. Suharto told the
press the previous internal audit of these enterprises had proven
that some irregularities were present in insurance company PT
Asabri and in the Setya Bhakti Pertiwi foundation.
"From our temporary audit we decided to conduct a special
audit which could lead to verification by the Supreme Audit
Agency," Suharto said.
He refused to estimate financial losses resulting from the
irregularities, saying it was the responsibility of the supreme
audit agency to reveal it.
Suharto said the ministry owns five enterprises and two
foundations, but declined to disclose the assets of those
organizations. Setya Bhakti Pertiwi foundation was set up to
support orphans and widows of the soldiers.
"The special audit for PT. Asabri will be conducted this month
and the result will be given to the Supreme Audit agency for
further investigation," he added.(dja)