Riau offers islands to foreign investors

The Jakarta Post, Batam | Sun, 08/30/2009 9:29 PM

Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah said on Sunday that his administration is inviting foreign investors to manage islands in the province.

“We will conduct the process transparently and according to the law. We want to avoid foreigners from managing the islands secretly,” Ismeth argued.

He said some islands in the province were already managed by foreigners.

“Nikoi island, for example, which is managed by foreign investors, attracts many tourists to its beautiful coral reefs.”

He said the involvement of foreign investors in the management of the islands had raised revenue for the island.

Ismeth explained that it takes a month for a foreign investor to get a permit, available from the province’s Investment Coordinating Agency, to manage an island. “The simple permit system is aimed at avoiding the practice of selling the islands.

Data from the agency shows that just 394 of the province’s nearly 1,800 islands are inhabited.Many islands border Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand.

“All the 1,795 islands in the province have been named to smooth the process and stop selling,” head of the province’s administrative affairs, Reni Yusnely, said.

Related Article:

Indonesian islands ‘not for sale’

5 Dead, 18 Missing After Overcrowded Ferry Sinks Off Indonesian Coast

The Jakarta Globe

(AP) An overcrowded ferry sank off the coast of Indonesia, leaving five people dead and at least 18 others missing, police and media reports said Saturday.

A PT Indonesia Ferry. (Photo: Saiful Bahri, Antara)

The ship, Sari Mulia, capsized Friday night while traveling from Negara to Banjarmasin in Kalimantan, Indonesia's part of Borneo island, police Sgt. Edy said.

He said more than 100 people were rescued while five were found dead.

"Based on an initial report, at least 18 people are still missing," he said.

Edy said police were still investigating the cause of the accident.

The official Antara news agency blamed overcrowding. It said the ship was carrying at least 132 passengers and crew and sank about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Banjarmasin.

It cited the local search and rescue chief, Abidin, as saying the missing passengers were believed trapped inside the sunken ship.

Ferries are a main source of transportation in Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands and a population of 220 million. Sea accidents are common due to overcrowding and poor safety standards.

On Wednesday a small ferry capsized off the tourist resort island of Bali, leaving nine people dead and three missing.

Indonesian islands ‘not for sale’

Erwida Maulia and Syofiardi Bachyul JB , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta / Padang | Fri, 08/28/2009 8:52 AM

State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said Thursday that none of Indonesia’s territory was for sale despite a website advertising offers for three islands in the western part of the country.

Hatta told reporters at the Presidential Palace that investors might lease or develop resorts on those islands, but any claim or attempt at ownership of Indonesian territory would constitute a “serious violation” of the law.

“There is no way that [any of our] islands can be sold. Perhaps those people who rent them do not understand that.

“Such ownership would obviously constitute a serious violation [of the law]. No island can be put up for sale,” he said.

Three islands in the Mentawai archipelago, West Sumatra, were advertised for sale at www.privateislandsonline.com.

The 15-acre Macaroni island was on sale for US$4 million, 24-acre Siloinak island was up for $1.6 million and Kandui island, measuring 26-acres in size, was advertised for $8 million.

“…Varying degrees of investment from full-purchase to joint venture may be considered. Siloinak island is priced extremely well, and all details will be discussed upon inquiry,” read the closing sentence of the sale information on the website.

It is not clear, though, who would make an offer, or what companies are related to the sale process.

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said the sale of Indonesian territory would constitute sacrificing national sovereignty, and should not be allowed to happen.

“Land can be sold and purcha-sed through the [2008] Agrarian Law. However, although an island is physically land, in a legal sense its sale is not the same,” Todung said. While part of an island can be sold as land, the entire island cannot.

He said that under the Agrarian Law, only Indonesian citizens could own both the land and the right to develop on it.

“Investors can develop [resorts] in the context of foreign investment, but they cannot own the land,” he said.

Meanwhile in Padang, West Sumatra, Yudas Sabaggalet, the Mentawai archipelago deputy regent, said there was no such arrangement to sell any of the islands in his region.

The website advertising islands for sale, he claimed, was based on “invalid information”.

“Only one of the three islands offered is really an island. The other two are names of resorts on Siberut island,” he said.

Yudas said he did not understand how anybody could confuse the resorts as islands, and how they could be up for sale to the public.

The ads promoted Macaroni and Kandui as islands, he said, when they were both just resorts on North Pagai island and Karangmajat Besar island respectively.

Siloinak, however is in fact an island.

“The government will investigate this case. Nobody is admitting to advertising the islands for sale,” Aji said at a press conference held at the West Sumatra Gubernatorial Office. The conference was also attended by the director general for supervision and control at the maritime affairs and fisheries ministry, Aji Sularso.

“We have concluded that the ads are not correct because those managing the islands and resorts claim they have not put them up for sale,” Aji said.

As the ads were published on a website based in Toronto, Canada, Aji said his office would coordinate with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to investigate this matter further.

Sail Bunaken - What a Spectacle!

Sailworld.com

What a spectacle, but no photos yet! An amazing 163 yachts took part in the 'Sail Bunaken 2009' festivities, which celebrated the Republic of Indonesian independence 64th anniversary last weekend in Manado, North Sulawesi province of Indonesia.

In the Sail Bunaken, the yacht rally was participated in by 25 countries and manned by 510 crew members, who sailed in a circuituous route through the islands of Indonesia, visiting 18 ports on the way. Not even any amateur photos have arrived fill the gap!

There were two routes for the Sail Bunaken participants namely from Darwin, Australia, which started on July 18 and went through Saumlaki, Maluku province to Manado

The second route, planned for yachts based in South East Asia, started at Kinabalu (Malaysia) on August 3, 2009 and passed through Tarakan, East Kalimantan (Indonesia), arrivomg in Bitung, North Sulawesi on August 12 to join Sail Bunaken.

The peak event of Sail Bunaken 2009 was the fleet review and sailpast which took place in Teluk Manado on August 19. On the day 31 warships, 3 tall ships, 42 yachts, 15 government boats and 40 fishing boat took part. Included in the sailpast were warships Indonesia, Bangladesh, China, Philippines, England, Germany, Cambodia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Libya, South Africa, Morocco, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria and Syria.

Seminars held in conjuction with the celebration on the subject of illegal fishing were attended by 16 Navy chiefs of staffs from 16 countries, including representatives of international and multilateral institutions.

During the festival, there were also staged musical performances, fireworks displays, industrial and maritime tourism exhibitions, culture and food festivals, an undersea photo competition, a flower festival and a city parade.

The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Ministry of Transportation, the Navy and the North Sulawesi provincial government.

It is Indonesia's attempt to promote Manado as an alternative destination to Bali, and would have provided an amazing spectacle for the participating yachts, many of whom are involved in circumnavigations. The event coincided nicely with the normal seasonal departure of yachts from Darwin in July, headed to Asia and the Indian Ocean.

by Sail-World Cruising 10:09 PM Thu 27 Aug 2009 GMT

Indonesia Asks Australia To Sink Vessels Poaching Sharks

JAKARTA, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Indonesia has asked Australia to just sink boats found poaching sharks in waters in their common border areas because such vessels belonged to "mafia", Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.

Indonesian Marine Resources and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said here on Wednesday that shark poaching in Indonesian waters bordering Australia was organised by mafia.

"This is a mafia game. Therefore, we have asked Australia to just sink the boats if they are found tresspassing the border," he said.

Freddy said the boats worth Rp30 million (RM10,457) each used by fishermen that often violated the border were procured by mafia members.

The shark fins that they had taken illegally meanwhile are worth billions of rupiahs and therefore they would never feel the loss when their boat was burned by Australian authorities, he said.

He also said the victims of the activity were fishermen because when they were caught they would be the ones sent to jail in Darwin.

It is difficult for us to blame fishermen because they do it just to make ends meet," he said.

In view of that he said in cooperation with the Australian government fishermen from Kupang were being led to conduct aqua culture to that they would not be lured to fish sharks.

"(Australia) indeed is very strict with regard to the shark issue and our fishermen have to follow their rules," he said.

Indonesian fishermen have so far violated the border three times to catch sharks, he said.

"Only five people have so far been caught and taken to Darwin," he added.

In view of that he called on fishermen in Kupang to stop catching sharks on the border between Indonesia and Australia.

Bimp-Eaga to form fishing consortium

Borneo Bulletin

The Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (Bimp-Eaga) meeting held in Brunei earlier this month had reportedly agreed to form a fishing consortium in their rich marine seas.

The consortium would be participated in by companies or business groups in Bimp-Eaga, a report released by the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco) said, according to media reports in Manila.

The agreement was reached by the Fisheries Working Group of the Bimp-Eaga and the Bimp-Eaga Business Council (BEBC) during the senior officials meeting and ministers' meeting (SOMM) of the growth area in Brunei.

Medco said the project "emanated from the instruction of the four heads of states of Bimp-Eaga during the leaders' summit in Singapore last year".

"It is now making a lot of positive developments," it said.

Medco said the working group and the BEBC "have agreed in principle on the proposed framework for the consortium".

The private sector would participate in the consortium, it said, as a means to operationalise the project. A coordinating body would be formed "to oversee and monitor" the progress of the operation of the consortium.

The areas of cooperation would be in the small pelagic fishes to be coordinated by Brunei; tuna production to be coordinated by Indonesia; high-value aquaculture to be coordinated by Malaysia; and seaweeds to be coordinated by the Philippines.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources represented the Philippines in the working group discussions.

Medco said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and industry leaders would discuss the details of the structure and business arrangements in a workshop next month in Manado City in Indonesia.

"They will also start discussing possible modes or arrangements for common-resource development as part of the features of the project," the Medco said.

Search operation

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 08/27/2009 1:57 PM

Members of a search and rescue team continue their hunt for two missing passengers of a boat that sank in the Badung Strait off Bali Island on Thursday. The traditional passenger boat sank on Wednesday, killing nine people. Two are still missing. (Antara/Nyoman Budhiana)

Island cruise

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 08/26/2009 4:22 PM | National

A Navy sailor watches as the KRI Dewa Ruci sail-training ship prepares to enter the Main Naval Base (Lantamal) IV in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Wednesday. The 179-crew ship is on a 65-day journey across the archipelago. It set sail on Aug. 5 and will sail, among other places, to Benoa, Bali; Cilacap, Central Java and Dumai, Riau. (Antara/Yusran Uccang)