Sipadan and Ligitan long listed on RI map
Sipadan and Ligitan long listed on RI map
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strengthened yesterday its claim on Sipadan and Ligitan, two small islands off East Kalimantan currently being disputed by Indonesia and Malaysia.
"Our maps have always incorporated the two islands, but they (Malaysia) only started to put Sipadan and Ligitan on their maps in 1969," Director General of Political Affairs Izhar Ibrahim told a hearing with the House of Representatives.
Izhar pointed out that Malaysia's claim over the two islands only came after Indonesia reasserted its ownership in 1967.
Two years later, Malaysia put Sipadan and Ligitan on its maps as part of its territory and in 1983 enforced its claim through a state law.
"This shows that before 1969, Malaysia had no objection to our claim over the islands. This is our trump card," he said in response to questions from Commission I legislators, who deal with foreign policy and national security.
Press reports from Kuala Lumpur this week suggested that Malaysia was considering a new protest after learning that Indonesia had incorporated the two islands in its latest maps.
"The new map is only a redefinition or confirmation of the previous one now that we have the law of the sea as a reference," Izhar said, adding that Indonesia had not yet received any formal Malaysian protest.
Indonesia's map is based on a 1891 agreement between Britain and the Netherlands, the respective colonial rulers of Malaysia and Indonesia, which recognized the two islands as part of Dutch territory, or present-day Indonesia.
The last round of talks to resolve the sovereignty of the two islands last June ended in a stalemate. Malaysia suggested arbitration through the United Nation's International Court of Justice but Indonesia insisted that the matter be resolved through the ASEAN's high court -- an institution that to this day has never been put to use.
Legislators at the hearing questioned Izhar about Indonesia's refusal to go to the UN court, to which he replied: "It's not that we are afraid, but we feel that there is still a chance of solving the issue bilaterally or informally." (pwn/mds)