E. Nusa Tenggara to name 719 islands

Yemris Fointuna and Hyginus Hardoyo, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, Jakarta

The East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration says 719 currently anonymous islands within its territory will soon be getting names of their own.

The administration is working together with the National Survey and Planning Coordination Agency, the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry and the Indonesian Military (TNI) Hydro Oceanography Office to assign them.

"They will be named according to the characteristics of the area where they are located," Djidon de Haan, an assistant to the East Nusa Tenggara spatial planning agency, told reporters Tuesday.

Djidon said the province consisted of 1,192 islands, including the outer islands of Batek, Dana Sabu, Ndana Rote and Manggudu. Military troops have been deployed on them since 2006 to prevent outside parties from claiming them.

There are 473 recognized islands spread across the province's 16 regencies and mayoralties, of which just 43 are inhabited.

The administration earlier claimed to own 566 large and small islands. But satellite images showed the actual number to be more than twice as large. The province is required to name them by July.

"The list of islands will be sent to Jakarta before being registered with the 9th congress of the United Nations Conference on Standardization of Geographical Names at the UN building this year," he added.

The move is an apparent response to Home Affairs Minister M. Ma'ruf's recent call to regional administrations, especially those on border areas with other countries, to give their islands names.

Ma'ruf said the intention was to avoid disputes similar to the cases of Ligitan and Simpadan, which have been taken over by Malaysia.

"We have about 17,000 islands, but only 6,000 of them have been named," Ma'ruf said during a visit to East Nusa Tenggara early last week.

"Our next orientation will be developing and expanding the potential of the outer islands."

Ma'ruf added that out of 92 outer islands throughout Indonesia, only 12 had been named. He said the naming of all those islands would be completed by August. "We've been asked by the UN to report the islands, especially those which are located on border areas with other countries, as soon as possible," he said.

Members of the House of Representatives have also expressed concern over the rising number of foreign citizens taking over the ownership of the country's islands simply because they are not clearly identified.

Lack of clarity and poor security in the border areas also tempts many foreign fishermen to enter Indonesian waters. Indonesian security officers have a difficult time catching them because the fishermen have superior vessels.