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.