'€œIt happened last year but it was only several times. The selling of islands is prohibited. Up until today, our existing laws do not allow anyone or any party, including foreigners, to buy an island in our territory,'€ said Sharif as quoted by kontan.co.id in Jakarta on Wednesday.

As it was legally prohibited, he added, it was unlikely that the selling of Indonesian islands allegedly involving foreigners could happen as it would be also prohibited for a public notary to carry out activities related to the island-selling process.

'€œWhat is possible is so-called joint cooperation schemes [KSO] or rental arrangements. We have proven several times that information saying a foreigner has bought an island in Indonesia has in fact been untrue,'€ said Sharif.

He was speaking responding to information on Indonesian island-selling activities via the Internet.

The minister said such offers were dubious as it was unlikely that any party could buy an island with a certificate.

Just recently, Kiluan Island in Lampung was offered for sale by privateislandonline.com. The island was selling at around US$300,000 (or Rp 3.5 billion).

In 2009, the website advertised the sale of three islands in Mentawai, West Sumatra, comprising the 15-acre Macaroni Island, priced at $4 million, the 24-acre Siloinak Island ($1.6 million) and the 26-acre Kandui Island ($8 million). (alz/ebf)

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