VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Illegal immigrants from the southern Philippines who live in Sabah, Malaysia, are alleged to have been accomplices in the abduction of two Indonesian fishing crew members in the waters of Sabah, Malaysia, on 11 September. This information is based on reports from security forces and former militants from the Philippines. When confirmed on this matter in Jakarta on Wednesday (19/9), the Director General of the Protection of Indonesian Citizens and the Indonesian Legal Entity of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said that his party could not confirm the involvement of illegal immigrants in the kidnapping of the two Indonesian citizens. His side needs to communicate with the Malaysian Government, because the area where the kidnapping took place is Malaysia's territory.

"It is possible if it is about the involvement of illegal immigrants in the South Philippines. We don't know. what is clear is when they are in Malaysian territory, that is the responsibility of the Malaysian Government for its security. That there may be many illegal immigrants there. But precisely because we assume that the sea triangle or waters are potential but prone triangles. Potential because of this logistics line. But the fact is that the conditions are vulnerable," Muhammad Iqbal said.

Meanwhile, a former member of Jamaah Islamiyyah linked to Al-Qaeda, Abdullah Sandakan, based in Sabah, said the Abu Sayyaf group, a terrorist and pirate group based in the southern Philippines, and other kidnappers from the southern Philippines had many family members living in the Philippines. Illegal immigrants acted as informants and were very loyal to the kidnappers, because of their family ties. They helped the kidnappers choose a good place to kidnap. The informants live in the sea. Some of them are fishermen, laborers and traders. Some of them even work in government departments and hotels in Sabah. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

Urbanization would bring positive impact to the country`s economy if it could be well-managed, Indonesia`s Minister of National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Bambang Brodjonegoro said.

"Urbanization would bring positive impact if we handle it properly. First, we should provide basic services; second, basic infrastructure, sanitation, drinking water, housing; and third, we should improve public transportation," Brodjonegoro stated in Jakarta on Thursday.

By 2045, Indonesia`s population is projected to reach 318.9 million, of which 67.1 percent are in urban areas. Urbanization that is poorly managed would lead to zero growth, he noted.

"We should manage urbanization with the three agendas, and then we could take more benefit of the urbanization," he added.

The country`s population in 2045 is projected to increase 24.7 percent, or 63.4 million, compared to those in 2015, which is twice the population in Malaysia and thrice higher than Australia. By 2045, work forces are projected to reach 206 million, and the elderly population of above 60 years old would reach 44.9 million.

However, Brodjonegoro remarked that Indonesia has an imbalance growth and distribution of population. Most of the population, or some 59 percent, are living in Java Island and 21 percent in Sumatra Island, both in the western part of Indonesia. Java has become the most populated island with more metropolitan areas compared to other islands in Indonesia.

It would be important for Indonesia to diffuse the growth to other major islands and to balance and reduce inter-regional inequality, he remarked. Therefore, new metropolitan area should be developed outside Java Island, the minister noted. In 2015, metropolitan areas have contributed to more than one third of the national gross domestic product (GDP).

Rapid urbanization in Indonesia during the period of 1996 to 2016 has led to economic growth, but the rate was not as fast as those in China and other East Asia and Pacific (EAP) countries. For each one percent of population growth in urban areas in China and EAP countries, it led to a growth of 3 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, in income per capita per year. In Indonesia, the growth of income per capita was only recorded at 1.4 percent per year. (ant) 

The Director General of the Protection of Indonesian Citizens and the Indonesian Legal Entity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, stated that trilateral patrol cooperation between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines needs to be reviewed, given the abduction of two fishing crew members Indonesian Citizens by armed groups in Samporna Waters, Sabah, Malaysia, on 11 September. To the media at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta, Wednesday (September 19), Muhammad Iqbal said, there was something wrong with the trilateral patrol cooperation that had been running for more than one year. Because since the cooperation was carried out, there have never been any more kidnappings in the waters of Sabah or around the Sulu Sea. Therefore, the ministry wants a review and strengthen the Trilateral Patrol cooperation.

“In 2016, President Jokowi initiated a trilateral Jogja meeting, where the Foreign Minister and Defense Minister and Armed Forces Commander of the three countries were directly invited by President Jokowi to meet. Well, from that meeting, it later developed into a trilateral cooperation called Coordinated Joint Patrol. That was done, so the safeguards were carried out in a coordinated manner in three regions, regions of Indonesia, the Philippines region, the territory of Malaysia which was adjacent to the Sulu Sea. And if we look at it, the standard operating procedure will be effective around January 2017, and since then, there has been no hostage-taking until the 11th. So something went wrong with that good cooperation. So in the future the direction is to re-strengthen the existing cooperation,” Muhammad Iqbal said.

Furthermore, Muhammad Iqbal explained that the temporary measures taken by the Indonesian Government is to respond to the abduction of two crew of the fishing vessels namely Syamsul Saguni and Usman Yunus, the Indonesian Consulate General in Tawau issued an appeal to Indonesian citizens working in the fisheries sector, especially in the Sabah and Sulu waters. They are asked not to temporarily go to sea. The appeal will only be revoked if the security situation is seen to be conducive by the local security authorities. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has communicated with Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs to request security guarantees for Indonesian citizens working in the Sabah waters. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines, Sinyo Harry Sarundajang, had previously also held a meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, to discuss cooperation in the trilateral patrols of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines which would be upgraded to trilateral joint operations. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

The Czech Republic Senate Chairman, Milan Stech and his Entourage that consist of five senators and 18 Czech Businessman is holding a working visit to Indonesia on September 16th to 20th to discuss several agenda with President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. In a Cocktail Reception at Czech Republic Embassy in Jakarta recently, to Voice of Indonesia, Milan Stech explained the main purpose of his visit to Jakarta is to develop good relation between Indonesia and Czech Republic especially in business.

“The main purpose of my visit is to actually follow up on traditionally good relation between Indonesia and the Czech Republic and to promote these relations further. Since we have very good relations in the field of businesses and business cooperation  we would like to take this opportunity to promote mutual business relations to the next level in order to follow up on what has been already started in the past,” Milan Stech said.

Furthermore, Milan Stech said that his visit to Indonesia along with the delegations is to strengthen business opportunity and investment in Indonesia especially in infrastructure, energy and education. Moreover Stech said that Czech Republic and Indonesia has a similar governmental system such as People Representative Assembly (DPR) and regional Representative Assembly (DPD). (VOI/REZHA/AHM/trans : NK/DP)