Saving our seas
As travelers know, Indonesia is a land of immense dimensions. With 17,500 islands, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago to form a single nation-state. Some 6.5 million square kilometers, or three-quarters of the country's total territory, is water. Considering this, the establishment by President Soeharto last week of the National Maritime Council is timely.
Since the advent of modern fishing and mining techniques earlier during this century, the seas have become not only strategic passageways for ships, friendly and hostile, and approaches to the natural riches which the Indonesian islands offer. They have become sources of valuable resources that have lured Indonesians and foreigners alike. Although the President remarked that in a country such as Indonesia, the development of the maritime sector and the country's national security go hand in hand, it is the economic aspect which is apparently foremost on the President's mind.
The fact, however, is that at this stage of its development, Indonesia lacks the means to effectively control the seas and straits which, under its national doctrine, are regarded as integral parts of the country's national territory but which many foreign powers still regard as international waters. This perhaps explains the persistence of foreign fishermen in operating in Indonesian waters. Reports of foreign fishing boats being seized by Indonesian navy patrols appear with regularity in the newspapers. In the past two months alone, 200 foreign fishing vessels were seized for illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.
The government's concern about such foreign intrusions is appropriate and understandable. Indonesia's territorial seas have the potential of yielding close to seven million tons of fish a year, but the national fishing fleet is capable of processing only 1.9 million tons. An even more appalling situation prevails in the domestic sea freight business, where close to 98 percent of the cargo is carried from island to island by foreign ships. In total, the maritime sector contributes about 15 percent of the national gross domestic product.
Important as this particular aspect may be, however, it is but one among a wide range of challenges in our maritime sector that must be faced and resolved. Other obstacles abound, not the least of which, though less spectacular, is stemming the destruction that is taking place in and around our seas. Reports, for example, have revealed around 70 percent of our 81,000 kilometers of coastline has been damaged. The widespread and continuing destruction of mangrove stands that protect our shores and provide a breeding ground for various fish species remains a problem that has to be tackled. The same is true for our coral reefs.
The composition of the Maritime Council and tasks that it has been given -- among other things, to advise the President and formulate policies concerning maritime development -- is a welcome sign that the scope of the problem is well understood by the government. We hope, however, that concrete policies can be drawn up and actual steps taken in time to curb and eventually halt the destruction of our maritime resources. Otherwise, it may take generations to restore what ignorance and greed have damaged.