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Navy asks for extra Rp 50.2b to upgrade weaponry
The Indonesian Navy has requested Rp 50 billion (US$5
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he Indonesian Navy has requested Rp 50 billion (US$5.4 million) in addition to an extra Rp 2.7 trillion sought by the Defense Ministry to improve its weaponry and develop a defense system that would train fishing communities across the archipelago.
Combined, the Indonesian Military and Defense Ministry budgets for 2010-2011 amount to Rp 43 trillion.
Navy Chief Adm. Agus Suhartono said the plan to involve fishing communities in the defense system would require a significant part of the budget. The fishing communities would be trained to report illegal fishing activities or illegal migrants.
The issue of involving local fishing communities will be discussed by the House of Representatives, which deliberates the bill on military personnel reserves, he told a press conference Wednesday at the announcement of the Navy’s strategy.
The project to involve members of the public in the country’s defense force was inspired by a National Police effort to train coastal communities in standard intelligence methods to report on suspicious activities.
Suhartono said the Navy was in the process of upgrading the weapons systems of its German-built patrol boats with the latest Russian-made missiles.
National Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. I Wayan Midhio said that Rp 799 billion of the proposed Rp 2.7 trillion would be spent on equipment procurement for the navy, the army and the air force.
He said Rp 739 billion would be spend on procuring firearms and ammunition.
The Defense Ministry earlier requested Rp 2.7 trillion be added to the defense budget, but the Finance Ministry only approved Rp 328 billion of that amount.
The Defense Ministry is lobbying the House of Representatives to approve the full amount.
Tubagus Hasanudin, a legislator on House Commission I overseeing defense, said legislators would approve the request if the ministry improved standards of transparency and accountability.
“Transparency is important because it’s all about taxpayers’ money,” he told The Jakarta Post.
