Indonesia is firmly strengthening its maritime patrol in Natuna waters, Riau Islands Province, to expel China’s fishing boats which illegally operated over the territory, as Mahfud MD, the Minister of Coordinating Politics, Law and Security remarked.

“The patrol will be strengthened. Our vessels currently operating in other regions will be mobilized there to drive them out,” Mahfud said in Malang, East Java, Sunday.

Safeguarded by the Chinese coast guard vessels, Chinese fishing boats have repeatedly trespassed into Indonesia's economic exclusive zone near the Natuna Islands for poaching. The Indonesian foreign ministry has lodged a strong protest over China's recent violation.

The Indonesian naval ships have already been prepared to secure the country's sovereignty though Mahfud noted that the measures taken were not meant to engage a war with China.

“We are not setting a war, but we are driving them out to protect our own areas,” Mahfud said.

The Chinese Government unilaterally claims the Natuna waters as its own by declaring a Nine Dash Line. Indonesia has never recognised this China's claim.

The Nine Dash Line is made by China based on its historical maritime rights. As a result, China claims that the region of South China Sea region which extends around two million kilometers from the land of China to hundreds of kilometers from the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam belongs to it.

“China declares that the region is their traditional rights since their fishermen are going there for thousands of years. But what is the principle of that, and what things to prove?,” Mahfud questioned.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, the Natuna waters belong to Indonesia’s economic exclusive zone that China, whatsoever, has no rights over the region.

The Indonesian Government affirms that there is no room for negotiating the issues of Indonesian EEZ near the Natuna Islands as Indonesia will always uphold the UNCLOS 1982. (ANTARA)

The Immigration Office in Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands Province, deported 50 foreign nationals last year for being involved in a number of legal cases including drug abuse and illegal fishing.

The figure dropped drastically from 186 a year earlier, Chief of the Tanjungpinang Immigration Office Hongky Juanda said on Saturday.

Most of the deportees were Vietnamese nationals involved in illegal fishing, he said.

"Before being deported to their country, they had served their jail terms in accordance with the Tanjungpinang District Court's verdicts," Hongky said.

The immigration office also denied entry to 70 foreign nationals last year, increasing significantly from 27 the year before, he said..

They were denied entry to the capital of Riau Islands Province because they demonstrated behavior which is against local norms, he said.

Some of them arrived in Pangkalpinang while they got drunk or had other purposes than the objectives of their visits to the province, he said.

"They wanted to go on vacation. But after we checked them, they had other purposes so they were denied entry," he said.

The immigration office will always try to tighten surveillance of foreign nationals staying in Tanjungpinang, he said.

"We are very selective. Foreign nationals traveling (to Riau Islands) must benefit the state. If they harm us, then why we will receive them," he said. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ordered the Indonesian military (TNI), related ministry, and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Sunday to restore an access road to Sukajaya Village, Bogor District, West Java, being crippled by a landslide.

He conveyed his order to TNI Commander Air Chief Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto, Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, and BNPB Head Doni Monardo when conducting an aerial observation on Sunday to find out the real condition of the isolated villages.

"Mr. President has instructed us to make an immediate endeavor to restore the road access to the isolated villages so that humanitarian aid packages can be distributed to those in need there," Doni Monardo said.

President Jokowi and his entourage departed for observing the real condition of Sukajaya Village by three helicopters from the Atang Sendjaja Airbase in Bogor District on Sunday at 8:15 a.m. local time.

The helicopters also carried humanitarian aid packages for the villagers severely suffering the impacts of the flooding and landslide that had made their villages get isolated.

In another development, on Sunday morning, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan worked hand in hand with the residents of Kampung Makassar in East Jakarta to clean their neighborhood area after the floodwater inundating the suburban area receded.

He was accompanied by East Jakarta Mayor M.Anwar, Secretary of the Jakarta Provincial Administration Saefullah, and East Jakarta Police Sen.Coms.Arie Ardhian when joining the Karya Bakti" or "working together" program.

The flooding swamped a wide range of areas in various sub-districts in the provinces of Jakarta, West Jakarta, and Banten, the BNPB's spokesman, Agus Wibowo, noted in a press statement.

The flash floods, caused by high-intensity rainfall over the past three days, swamped several areas of 18 sub-districts in Bekasi District, 17 sub-districts in Jakarta, and 13 sub-districts in Bogor District and Tangerang City respectively.

The disaster also affected 12 sub-districts in Bekasi City, 11 sub-districts in Depok City, and six sub-districts in Lebak District, Bogor City, and Tangerang Selatan City respectively, Wibowo stated.

Consequently, floodwaters, submerging houses, led to the forced displacement of 149,537 residents of Bekasi City in West Java Province. They were accommodated at 97 temporary shelters, while 11,474 Jakartans also took refuge and stayed at 66 temporary shelters.

The catastrophe had also killed at least 60 people, and caused two others to go missing, Wibowo said. (ANTARA)

Governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan worked hand in hand with the residents of Kampung Makassar in East Jakarta on Sunday morning to clean their neighborhood area after the floodwater inundating the suburban area receded.

He was accompanied by East Jakarta Mayor M.Anwar, Secretary of the Jakarta Provincial Administration Saefullah, and East Jakarta Police Sen.Coms.Arie Ardhian when joining the Karya Bakti" or "working together" program, held from 07.30 to 11.00 a.m. local time.

Anies kept working with local residents and members of the military, police, and various agencies to clean a muddy road section near an Islamic school and an outdoor volleyball court though the rain was showering the suburban area.

They lifted the wreckage of damaged goods and mud, and put them into sand bags. Owing to his commitment to finishing his work, Anies politely refused an offer of having a bottled water, saying that he wanted to continue working.

The Jakarta provincial administration noted that 15 percent of the capital city's areas were swamped by this early January's flash floods.

In helping ease the burden of those suffering from the impacts of this catastrophe, Anies Baswedan appealed to all Jakartans to conduct a simultaneous "working together" activity to clean their respective neighborhood areas after the floodwater receded.

In certain parts of Jakarta and its greater areas, the floodwater had begun receding. According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), this early January's flash floods and landslides had killed 60 people and caused two others to go missing.

The flooding swamped a wide range of areas in various sub-districts in the provinces of Jakarta, West Jakarta, and Banten, the agency's spokesman, Agus Wibowo, noted in a press statement.

The flash floods, caused by high-intensity rainfall over the past three days, swamped several areas of 18 sub-districts in Bekasi District, 17 sub-districts in Jakarta, and 13 sub-districts in Bogor District and Tangerang City respectively.

The disaster also affected 12 sub-districts in Bekasi City, 11 sub-districts in Depok City, and six sub-districts in Lebak District, Bogor City, and Tangerang Selatan City respectively, Wibowo stated.

Consequently, floodwaters, submerging houses, led to the forced displacement of 149,537 residents of Bekasi City in West Java Province. They were accommodated at 97 temporary shelters, while 11,474 Jakartans also took refuge and stayed at 66 temporary shelters. (ANTARA)