Malaysia didn’t violate Kalimantan border: Govt

Hoping to ease the potential for public turmoil, the government rejected lawmakers’ claims that Malaysia had “illegally taken over” more than 1,000 hectares of Indonesian land in northern Kalimantan.

In a press conference attended by four ministers, the government said that Malaysia had not violated any treaties on border demarcation between the two countries.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, along with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi and Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, held a press conference at Djoko’s office on Monday to respond to the allegations that had originated from lawmaker Maj. Gen. (ret) T.B. Hasanuddin.

Hasanuddin, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, told the media on Saturday that Indonesia had lost 1,490 hectares in Camar Bulan to Malaysia and that the country’s sea boundary in Tanjung Datu waters had moved 800 meters in favor of Kuala Lumpur.

“There are no such border disputes between Indonesia and Malaysia because we both have the same references, which are the treaties made by the Dutch and British governments in 1891, 1915 and 1928,” Marty said at the conference.

Djoko, meanwhile, suggested that Hasanuddin might have been misinformed. “We have surveyed along the Indonesia-Malaysia border in Kalimantan and none of the border markers have been moved,” he said. “Indonesia will never give up even an inch of our land.”

Marty did acknowledge that the old treaties needed to be followed up with continual talks between Indonesia and Malaysia after the former gained independence from the Dutch in 1945 and the latter from the UK in 1957.

“It has been our duty to ensure the demarcation line despite the three treaties. That resulted in a memorandum of understanding [MoU] between Indonesia and Malaysia in 1978, which was carried out simply to break down the old treaties,” Marty said.

Hasanuddin, however, said that the MoU had changed some of the border markers set by the treaties in northern Kalimantan in favor of Malaysia.

“The MoU was handled by the so-called border commission team set up by the Indonesian government. Whether it was negligence on their part or they allowed Malaysia seize our territory deliberately, I don’t know,” he said.

According to Hasanuddin, the team was made up of officials from the Home Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Bakorsurtanal.

He said that all the institutions should be held responsible, “including the West Kalimantan provincial administration, which is supposed to watch its territory closely”.

Gamawan rejected the idea that his ministry could be partially blamed for the issue. “Border issues between Indonesia and Malaysia are annually discussed by both governments. We cannot blame any party nor accuse [Malaysia] of having illegally occupied the area,” he said.

Although the 1978 MoU is not yet legally binding, as neither Jakarta nor Kuala Lumpur has ratified it, Malaysia opened Tanjung Datu National Park in 1994.

It is not yet known if the 1,379-hectare “Heaven of Borneo” is part of the disputed area.

Ridwan Max Sijabat contributed to this story.