Ternyata duduk perkaranya demikian. pembaca bisa menilai sendiri, politisi Indonesia.
Singapore News // Thursday, March 8, 2007 The shifting sands of statesmanship Is Jakarta's testy response to sand issue the best way to treat a neighbour? A M Hendropriyono IT IS hardly an Indonesian phenomenon for elected officials to talk in soundbites and bask in melodrama. But in recent weeks, some of Indonesia's legislators have lowered the bar further with their use of hyperbole and propensity for sabre-rattling. Case in point: The hyper-caffeinated response from the legislative body Commission I regarding sand exports to Singapore, including House Speaker Agung Laksono's call for the expulsion of Singapore's ambassador. . The sand controversy is hardly new, which makes Mr Laksono's breathless comments all the more puzzling. On the one hand, Singapore has long had an enormous appetite for sand. This is used for concrete and for the city-state's ambitious land reclamation project. They currently need about 1.5 billion cubic metres of dredged silica a year, with their reclamation plan likely to last for at least another eight years. . Since 1997, Indonesia has been meeting much of Singapore's shortfall. This has been a relatively profitable relationship, with Singapore dishing out up to US$160 million ($245 million) a year to Indonesian suppliers. . But herein lies the rub: Much of the sand has been taken from the Riau archipelago. As some islands are reduced to islets, and could even disappear below the surface, Singapore is expanding, albeit at a glacial pace. Four decades ago, it was a 581-sq-km island. Today it measures about 650 sq km, with growth of another 100 sq km expected within the next three decades. . This could theoretically lead to a cartographic zero-sum game in which Singapore's gain could be at Indonesia's territorial loss. After all, the Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that national territory is traced according to the coastal base line, and if islands near Singapore disappear, then the base line is pulled closer to the Sumatran mainland. As it now stands, Singapore is just 20km from Nipah island, which has been especially eroded by the loss of sand. . To head off any redrawing of maps, the Indonesian government earlier banned sand exports from Riau. But in January, apparently unsatisfied that this would protect the country's territorial integrity, Indonesia prohibited all exports. . Unfortunately, Indonesian assemblymen decided to underscore these decisions with the aforementioned sabre-rattling and threats to expel the Singaporean ambassador. Such behavior hardly showed the level of maturity or diplomatic acumen that one might expect from senior officials. Worse, it showed they had not done their homework. . After all, more than three decades ago, Singapore and Indonesia signed a border agreement that delineated boundaries north of Nipah and Batam islands; this already assures Indonesia's territorial integrity in the face of Singaporean land reclamation to the south. . What's more, Indonesian politicians seem all too eager to incur bad blood with their closest neighbour without weighing up the overall benefits of bilateral ties. Singaporean trade and investment in Indonesia, after all, is not insubstantial. Singapore has also been an unflinching ally in the war against radicalism. When I was the head of intelligence, Singapore's staunch support in this regard was much appreciated. . Ironically, if the assemblymen want to find law-breakers, they need not look abroad. Earlier this decade, official Singaporean statistics showed that they imported about four times the amount of sand shown in the Indonesian ledgers. . In 2005, Indonesia claimed that it received about US$6 million for sand exports, while Singapore says it paid about 27 times that amount. Obviously, the bulk of sand was being exported through illegal channels. Much of it was apparently coming from Riau, despite the earlier prohibition. . But it is perhaps too much to expect legislators to take into account such nuances and push constructive policy suggestions. So, while there is no shortage of genuine security issues at home Poso aflame and terrorists on the loose, to name just a couple Singapore, and more recently Malaysia, has become an easy target for their angst. . Within the executive branch, however, one would hope that statesmanship would be in greater supply. Before this issue festers further, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should forgo his customary silence and use this opportunity to fast-track settlements on economic exclusive zones with Singapore. . His administration should also push for a conclusion to the negotiations on the sea boundaries west and east of Singapore. Finally, he could request Singapore take greater pains to certify that all Indonesian sand imports come from provinces other than Riau. . Indonesia is fortunate to live in a relatively safe neighbourhood. For the foreseeable future, it is difficult to imagine this nation going to war with any of its neighbours. Many in the Indonesian armed forces already recognise this welcome reality. It is about time that their political counterparts set aside the incendiary rhetoric, place their sabres in their sheaths, and let diplomacy run its course. . This commentary was first published in The Jakarta Post. The writer is the former chief of Indonesia's National Intelligence Agency. Is Jakarta's testy response to sand issue the best way to treat a neighbour? A M Hendropriyono IT IS hardly an Indonesian phenomenon for elected officials to talk in soundbites and bask in melodrama. But in recent weeks, some of Indonesia's legislators have lowered the bar further with their use of hyperbole and propensity for sabre-rattling. Case in point: The hyper-caffeinated response from the legislative body Commission I regarding sand exports to Singapore, including House Speaker Agung Laksono's call for the expulsion of Singapore's ambassador. . The sand controversy is hardly new, which makes Mr Laksono's breathless comments all the more puzzling. On the one hand, Singapore has long had an enormous appetite for sand. This is used for concrete and for the city-state's ambitious land reclamation project. They currently need about 1.5 billion cubic metres of dredged silica a year, with their reclamation plan likely to last for at least another eight years. . Since 1997, Indonesia has been meeting much of Singapore's shortfall. This has been a relatively profitable relationship, with Singapore dishing out up to US$160 million ($245 million) a year to Indonesian suppliers. . But herein lies the rub: Much of the sand has been taken from the Riau archipelago. As some islands are reduced to islets, and could even disappear below the surface, Singapore is expanding, albeit at a glacial pace. Four decades ago, it was a 581-sq-km island. Today it measures about 650 sq km, with growth of another 100 sq km expected within the next three decades. . This could theoretically lead to a cartographic zero-sum game in which Singapore's gain could be at Indonesia's territorial loss. After all, the Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that national territory is traced according to the coastal base line, and if islands near Singapore disappear, then the base line is pulled closer to the Sumatran mainland. As it now stands, Singapore is just 20km from Nipah island, which has been especially eroded by the loss of sand. . To head off any redrawing of maps, the Indonesian government earlier banned sand exports from Riau. But in January, apparently unsatisfied that this would protect the country's territorial integrity, Indonesia prohibited all exports. . Unfortunately, Indonesian assemblymen decided to underscore these decisions with the aforementioned sabre-rattling and threats to expel the Singaporean ambassador. Such behavior hardly showed the level of maturity or diplomatic acumen that one might expect from senior officials. Worse, it showed they had not done their homework. . After all, more than three decades ago, Singapore and Indonesia signed a border agreement that delineated boundaries north of Nipah and Batam islands; this already assures Indonesia's territorial integrity in the face of Singaporean land reclamation to the south. . What's more, Indonesian politicians seem all too eager to incur bad blood with their closest neighbour without weighing up the overall benefits of bilateral ties. Singaporean trade and investment in Indonesia, after all, is not insubstantial. Singapore has also been an unflinching ally in the war against radicalism. When I was the head of intelligence, Singapore's staunch support in this regard was much appreciated. . Ironically, if the assemblymen want to find law-breakers, they need not look abroad. Earlier this decade, official Singaporean statistics showed that they imported about four times the amount of sand shown in the Indonesian ledgers. . In 2005, Indonesia claimed that it received about US$6 million for sand exports, while Singapore says it paid about 27 times that amount. Obviously, the bulk of sand was being exported through illegal channels. Much of it was apparently coming from Riau, despite the earlier prohibition. . But it is perhaps too much to expect legislators to take into account such nuances and push constructive policy suggestions. So, while there is no shortage of genuine security issues at home Poso aflame and terrorists on the loose, to name just a couple Singapore, and more recently Malaysia, has become an easy target for their angst. . Within the executive branch, however, one would hope that statesmanship would be in greater supply. Before this issue festers further, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should forgo his customary silence and use this opportunity to fast-track settlements on economic exclusive zones with Singapore. . His administration should also push for a conclusion to the negotiations on the sea boundaries west and east of Singapore. Finally, he could request Singapore take greater pains to certify that all Indonesian sand imports come from provinces other than Riau. . Indonesia is fortunate to live in a relatively safe neighbourhood. For the foreseeable future, it is difficult to imagine this nation going to war with any of its neighbours. Many in the Indonesian armed forces already recognise this welcome reality. It is about time that their political counterparts set aside the incendiary rhetoric, place their sabres in their sheaths, and let diplomacy run its course. . This commentary was first published in The Jakarta Post. The writer is the former chief of Indonesia's National Intelligence Agency. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't pick lemons. See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
