RI seeks regional help to combat sea piracy
RI seeks regional help to combat sea piracy
Agencies, Jakarta
Indonesian police said on Friday it was seeking to beef up
cooperation in the region to combat the growing threat of sea
piracy.
The sealanes in the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca
separating Malaysia and Indonesia are among the busiest, and most
dangerous in the world.
National police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said efforts would
begin with neighboring Singapore whose navy was already working
with Indonesia.
"Cooperation to combat sea piracy will be stepped up between
the Singapore and Indonesian police," Bachtiar told reporters
without elaborating.
"Sea piracy is already a chronic problem, meaning that the
problem is persistent and as we know our country's borders are
very wide so it is quite difficult (to handle)," he added.
Da'i was speaking after President Megawati Soekarnoputri
awarded medals to the visiting Malaysian and Singaporean police
chiefs, Malaysia's Inspector General Norian Mai and Singapore
Police Commissioner Khoo Boon Hui.
Khoo said the medal "reflects the close cooperation between
Singapore and Indonesia" in the fight against transnational
crime.
Norian said intensive cooperation between Malaysian and
Indonesian police was "bearing fruit". He did not elaborate.
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines in May sealed a
trilateral security pact in a bid to bolster cooperation to
combat terrorism and cross-border crime in the region.
Pirate attacks have increased significantly in recent years in
Southeast Asia's Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest
waterways.
The Piracy Reporting Centre, in its annual report for last
year, said there were 335 actual or attempted pirate attacks in
2001. Indonesia was the world's most pirate-prone nation with 91
incidents and another 17 occurred in the Malacca Strait.
The report said the strait had seen a remarkable drop in the
number of piracy attacks, compared to 75 in 2000. It credited
vigilant patrols, especially by Malaysian marine police.