T

he fate of the Marine Corps 10th Infantry Battalion headquarters on Setokok Island, Batam, Riau Islands, remains unclear because it has yet to be inaugurated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Marine base faces neighboring Singapore, which has negative sentiments toward the elite Indonesian Military Navy unit following the naming of naval vessel KRI Usman-Harun, a move which was the opposed by-city-state.

The Navy Information Office'€™s general information subdivision head Col. Suradi Agung told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the naval base should have been inaugurated concurrently with the launch of the 2014 Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK) in Batam in March this year.

'€œDuring the MNEK, the President failed to visit Batam so the naval base inauguration was postponed. The inauguration was also scheduled when the President recently visited Batam for the Koran Recital Competition. We don'€™t know when it will be inaugurated. They say the President is busy,'€ said Suradi.

'€œThe battalion is only tasked with regular duties, such as naval operations, as it cannot yet carry out the basic duties and functions of a battalion. The inauguration of a base is part of the legal grounding for battalions to operate,'€ he added.

Separately, responding to the matter, Navy spokesman Col. Manahan Simorangkir said the delay '€œwas merely due to the Navy chief or the TNI [Indonesian Military] Commander not yet having enough time to launch it'€, adding that it had nothing to do with Singapore.

'€œI believe it is normal if Singapore is a bit, let'€™s say, worried, but the establishment of the headquarters has nothing to do with them,'€ Manahan said on Tuesday.

'€œIt is only to enforce our Navy, particularly in terms of safeguarding our waters from pirates.'€

Yudhoyono was in Batam from June 4 to 7 to meet Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Singaporean President Tony Tan and to inaugurate the 24th Koran Recital Competition.

When asked by the Post on the sidelines of the presidential visit to Batam, presidential spokesman Aldrin Pasha acknowledged that the visit did not include Yudhoyono'€™s inauguration of the Marine base.

'€œI will check with the TNI commander whether or not the request to launch the marine base has been conveyed,'€ said Julian.

Separately, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that Singapore had not expressed any reservation over the Marine base.

'€œThe matter was not discussed in the meeting,'€ said Marty after the meeting between Yudhoyono and Tony Tan in Batam on June 5.

According to Marty, in Indonesia and Singapore'€™s relationship, there is an annual forum that discusses bilateral issues. The forum consists of six working groups, one of them on military.

The Navy has been setting up the Marine Corps 10th Infantry Battalion on Setokok Island for the past year. The Marine unit posted in Riau Islands is in the framework of strengthening security at border areas, which have a high potential for conflict.

The Marine battalion stands on a 37-hectare plot and took 10 months to build. It was projected to have installed all its facilities, including a helipad, shooting range and supporting buildings, by February this year.

Setokok Island is situated around 4 kilometers southeast of Batam Island. The island is connected to Batam by a bridge.

In the initial stage, the battalion will include 600 Marine personnel and be strengthened by a small special unit.