No crying over spilt milk

The sentiments of disappointment and disgrace of the Indonesian public resulting from the loss of the two islands Sipadan and Ligitan by virtue of the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of Dec. 17, 2002, found terse expression in the title Licking our wounds of the editorial of The Jakarta Post, Dec.19.

It cannot be denied that the vote of 16-1 marking the verdict of ICJ could hardly be tolerated in the mind of the Indonesian public. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that the editorial still suggested that "there are valuable lessons to draw from the bitter experience" of the loss of the two islands.

One lesson, at least (for consolation), is the reminder to the Indonesian public that a number of 17,506 islands are still left in the Indonesian possession (the Post, Dec. 16).

But few would know that, among the myriad of islands indicated by the said number, there is one called Palmas, located between the most northern tip of the Talaut islands and Cape San Augustine, Mindanao. The Netherlands or the Dutch East Indies won the acquisition of Palmas in a dispute with the United States dated since Jan. 21, 1906, by virtue of the award of the Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 1928.

Now, since Palmas came into the possession of the Dutch East Indies, which in matters pertaining to international law was succeeded by Indonesia, a critical question may be posed: what has been achieved in terms of the development of the island to the benefit of the populace?

Perhaps it would serve as a bit of relief to console for the loss of Sipadan and Ligitan, should it be revealed that until now, nothing much has been accomplished in the development of Palmas since it had been won from an international adjudication by the award of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 1928.

But another lesson which by far perhaps is the most important pertains to the suggestion as was posed by Carolyn Hong of the New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, in her writing on Malaysia's victory over Sipadan and Ligitan (the Post, Dec. 20). The two islands will become important new bases in the calculation of the boundaries of the Continental Shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) east of Sabah, claimed by Malaysia.

The question is: Is the Indonesian public aware of the importance of the Continental Shelf in terms of natural resources (including oil and gas) and the potentialities of the EEZ? This remains to be seen.

S. SUHAEDI, Jakarta