Warships deployed close to disputed territory

Warships deployed close to disputed territory

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Navy has deployed three warships to disputed
waters where the Malaysian government has granted oil production
sharing contracts.

"Yes, we have certainly deployed three Navy vessels to the
area, but that does not mean there is tension between the two
countries," DPA news agency quoted Lt. Col. Guntur Wahyudi,
spokesman for Indonesia's Eastern Fleet (Armatim).

Wahyudi explained that the deployment of the warships was
aimed at safeguarding waters close to Sipadan and Ligitan
islands, off the eastern coast of East Kalimantan province,
bordering Malaysia.

He said the Indonesian Navy has merely been conducting
routine, round-the-clock patrols in the area.

In addition to the Navy vessels, the Indonesian military has
also deployed two Nomad maritime aircraft to conduct
reconnaissance for possible incursions into Indonesian territory,
including airspace violations by foreign aircraft, Wahyudi said.

The government of Indonesia last week lodged a protest against
a Malaysian oil production sharing contract with Anglo-Dutch
giant Royal Dutch Shell in an offshore area Indonesia claims as
its own.

The Malaysian government says the area is part of its
territory, while Indonesia says that Malaysia's claim was made
based on a self-made map from 1979, which is not recognized by
the Indonesian government or by most other Southeast Asian
countries.

The disputed areas are close to the Sipadan-Ligitan islands,
which were awarded to Malaysia by the International Court of
Justice in 2003 after a decade-long dispute with Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government has urged U.S. oil and
gas firm Unocal Corp. to continue exploration activities in the
disputed area, referred to in Indonesia as the East Ambalat oil
and gas block.

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources director-general of
oil and gas Iin Arifin Takhyan said on Tuesday that Indonesia is
open to a negotiated settlement of the dispute, but in the
meantime "the show must go on."

"There will be further talks with the Malaysian authorities
over the oil blocks and we are ready to accept a sharing
agreement should there be overlapping areas between the two
countries," Iin told reporters.

However, he emphasized that: "Unocal must continue with
exploration activities" while the government is preparing for the
talks.

The Indonesian government awarded the contract to explore the
East Ambalat block to Unocal in November last year.

Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo
Yusgiantoro said that the two deep-water blocks are Indonesian
territory and there is no reason for Unocal not to continue their
activities.

"We have granted them the contract, and they should continue
with the exploration as mentioned in the agreement. That
territory is ours," the minister said earlier on Monday.

The territorial dispute between the two nations comes as
Malaysia starts a crackdown against illegal workers who are
mainly from Indonesia.