B

atam needs to establish a border management agency to avoid problems with neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia, an official says.

'We have asked the Batam mayor to form a regional agency to tackle border problems,' Triyono Budi Sasongko, secretary of the National Agency on Border Management (BNPP), said on Friday.

There are 12 provinces, 38 regencies and 187 districts with points of entry to and from other countries and only a few regions have formed their own management agencies to deal with them.

The BNPP has three issues for Batam municipality to follow up on since a meeting with Batam Mayor Ahmad Dahlan on Thursday.

The BNPP asked for input from the Batam on regulations with special border characteristics which the government must set with other countries, like Malaysia and Singapore.

'If the Batam municipality has proposals for regulations which must be set by the central government, please convey them to us,' Triyono added.

He said that the government had issued special regulations for border crossing between West Kalimantan and Malaysia. The input of the municipality are necessary because the government will draw up a grand design on border areas in the future.

One of the border issues faced by Batam is the Helen Mars and Banteng reefs, which are used to demarcate Batam's border with Singapore.

Problems might arrive if the reefs, barely visible during high tide, one day vanish due to erosion.

Triyono said that the BNPP had delegated the issue to the Defense Ministry. 'Let the Defense Ministry handle the coral reef issue. We will only be involved in policymaking,' said Triyono.

Separately, Batam Mayor Ahmad Dahlan said his administration planned to form a border management agency by the end of the year the latest.

'We have plans to form the body by the end of the year to facilitate communication with the BNPP and deal with border issues in a more specific manner,' said Dahlan.

So far there are no outstanding issues between Batam and other countries as interaction between Batam residents and citizens from other countries has always been good.