Smuggling ships can be released on bail

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government announced on Monday that it would release on bail nine vessels accused of smuggling sand to Singapore, while pledging to proceed with legal prosecution.

After a meeting with Vice President Hamzah Haz, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri said bail could reach Rp 2 trillion (US$250 million).

"We will continue the legal process and the owners can temporarily use their ships as long as they post bail," Rokhmin said.

The government told ship owners that they could operate their vessels as long as they posted funds totaling 50 percent of the ship's value and its contents.

"We have determined a certain zone in each region for sand extraction and those ships can operate in those areas if they post bail," the minister added.

Rokhmin said the demand for bail was part of a move to block any attempts by the seized ships to escape.

He denied reports that his office had released the vessels, saying that the government had been increasing its surveillance to crack down on the smuggling of sand.

The Indonesian Navy seized last month seven ships bound for Singapore. The ships were carrying sea sand across the waters near Karimun island.

Last week two more ships were also caught in the same area, heading for the same destination.

All the vessels are anchored at the Riau port and are under the surveillance of the national maritime board.

The government has been trying to curb the smuggling of sea sand to Singapore, which costs the country up to Rp 2.3 trillion ($258 million) every year.

Rokhmin further said his office had tried to talk to the Singaporean government regarding the smuggling of sand from Indonesia.

"However, they said it was strictly a business issue, conducted by private companies and the Singaporean government could not do anything to stop it," the minister said.

Jakarta has been carefully watching the reclamation of land in the city state of Singapore, which has reportedly narrowed the sea borders between the two countries.

For their reclaimed land project, Singapore has been buying sand, mostly from Riau province.

An expert on maritime law, Chandra Motik, said that Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore should sit down together to settle the border issues before the whole thing gets out of control.

"We should immediately settle the issue before it becomes impossible for us to determine the sea borders," Chandra, who is a member of the maritime board, said.