Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Sat, May 26, 2012
Archive Search

Navy: Malaysia Fishing Row Is Trivial
Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ismira Lutfia  | April 12, 2011

Share This Page
0
0
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

The military on Monday brushed off concerns that the seizure of two Malaysian fishing boats by Indonesian maritime authorities would reignite tensions between the neighbors.

Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said the case resulted from suspicions of illegal trawling by the Malaysian vessels, rather than part of a long-running maritime border dispute with Kuala Lumpur.

“As neighboring countries, we must be wise enough to put this matter into the proper context, which is that this is not a big problem, just a criminal case,” he said.

“Please don’t let this matter be stretched into something else.”

He added that there was no tension between the militaries of either country over the matter.

Iskandar said the seizure of the boats was part of a joint operation overseen by the country’s Maritime Security Coordination Board (Bakorkamla). The boats’ crews have been detained at the Navy’s Belawan Base in North Sumatra awaiting trial, he added.

However, Malaysian authorities insist that an Indonesian boat was the one trespassing in its waters and that Indonesia’s actions were in clear violation of international laws, according to Malaysian news agency Bernama.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry was also reported to have sent a note to Jakarta on Friday to protest against the country’s maritime authorities intruding into Malaysian waters and subsequently seizing two boats belonging to Malaysian fishermen.

Yulistyo Mundho, a spokesman for the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, confirmed his office had received the note and was now studying it.

He denied that Indonesian officials had trespassed into Malaysian waters, saying the patrol boat and Bakorkamla had recorded the coordinates at the position the seizure took place.

“The coordinates show that the two vessels had intruded four [7.4 kilometers] to eight nautical miles into Indonesian waters,” Yulistyo said.

“The crew will be prosecuted on charges of illegal fishing with trawl nets.”

A row flared up last year following the arrests of three Indonesian maritime officers by a Malaysian naval patrol after the arrests of Malaysian fishermen by the Indonesian coast guard.

It was later revealed the Indonesian officials had been attempting to extort the Malaysian patrol when they were arrested.