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RI should improve air radar systems: LIPI
The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said Indonesia should improve its radar systems in order to take back authority of its airspace, which is currently managed by Singapore
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he Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said Indonesia should improve its radar systems in order to take back authority of its airspace, which is currently managed by Singapore.
The airspace over Riau Islands province had been controlled by Singapore since 1946 and Indonesia had been making efforts to regain authority since 1993, said LIPI telecommunications division head Mashury Wahab.
Mashury told The Jakarta Post recently that infrastructure and facilities had to be improved and a radar system was needed across Sumatra and the islands between Indonesia and Singapore.
'When the airspace management agreement was made, according to my knowledge, it was due to the inadequate condition of our radar infrastructure and facilities. To get it back, we have to improve our infrastructure and radar management. The radar system must be managed professionally,' said Mashury.
According to Mashury, LIPI had obtained information from state airport administrator PT Angkasa Pura, which showed that during the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) meeting, Singapore had come across as meticulous. Thus, he continued, the ICAO's decision to give the authority to Singapore was also attributed to Indonesia's weak diplomacy.
Mashury said that Indonesia was unable to produce a locally made air radar system. 'Currently, Indonesia only produces three types of radars, which only have a reach of up to 40 kilometers, and are for sea and port use, not air,' said Mashury.
Singapore, he continued, controls the air space as far as 110 nautical miles offshore, covering Indonesian territory from Batam and Natuna to Dumai in Riau.
The airspace included in Singapore's Flight Information Region (FIR), should have been included within Indonesia's FIR, Mashury said. As Indonesia's airspace is included in Singapore's FIR, this causes a loss in potential earnings from route charges imposed on aircraft passing through the airspace.
Meanwhile, Riau Islands Governor Muhammad Sani said that his administration had already raised the idea ' of income from the airspace managed by Singapore ' to Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan.
'Actually, this is the domain of the central government. The space that Singapore has managed thus far, could be managed by Indonesia. We have yet to calculate potential earnings from the airspace,' said Sani.
