T

he authorities in Riau Islands have acted swiftly to prevent a possible territorial loss after a private developer claimed an exclusive island resort near Batam as Singaporean.

The Singapore-based developer, Funtasy Island Development (FID) Pte Ltd., was told not to meddle with Indonesia’s sovereignty after its recent unveiling of a resort map unambiguously presented Indonesian islands as Singaporean.

Known as Air Manis, the developer rechristened the cluster of six islets north of Batam as “Funtasy Island”.

The developer presented the islands on a map in colors denoting them as Singaporean territory, said Guntur Sakti, head of the provincial tourism agency.

“We already asked for an explanation from the Singaporean management. We gave them a warning not to make any sudden moves that would attract any negative perceptions,” Guntur told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The agency lodged an official warning and requested clarification on Monday, coming away with nothing more than an explanation that the map was merely a marketing ploy, he said.

“We are concerned that the islands might be claimed by Singapore and we don’t want that to happen,” he said, adding that Air Manis is registered under Belakang Padang district in Batam.

It appears that the Riau Islands provincial administration has learned lessons from a dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over the Sipadan and Ligitan islands.

The International Court of Justice handed the islands over to Malaysia using the effective occupation principle.

The local military also took action when scores of Army and Navy personnel travelled to the resort on Sunday to exert Indonesian sovereignty by planting a number of Indonesian red-and-white flags.

The idea to have soldiers plant the flags came from a forum of Batam authorities, Batam naval base chief Col. Ribut Eko Suyatno said.

There are also plans to build a naval post in the resort’s vicinity to anticipate further actions, he added.

Meanwhile, Surya Makmur Nasution, a member of the Riau Islands Legislative Council (DPRD), said the exclusive management of Air Manis was in violation of the 2007 Coastal and Small Islands Management Law.

“The local residents no longer live there, so the exclusive right to that island goes against the law. The government needs to set this straight,” he said.

The Funtasy Island case has emerged against a backdrop of overlapping territorial claims in Southeast Asia. A number of unresolved maritime border issues with Indonesia’s neighbors as well as territorial disputes in the South China Sea have generated tensions across the region.

On March 19, Jakarta lodged a protest against Beijing after a Chinese coastguard vessel obstructed Indonesian law enforcement efforts near the Natuna Islands by preventing a Chinese fishing vessel from being impounded by local authorities.

In early 2015, Malaysia began the construction of a lighthouse in waters off Tanjung Datuk Island in West Kalimantan, a disputed region between the district of Paloh in Sambas regency and the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

A Singaporean Embassy spokesperson said the country “had never disputed Indonesia’s sovereignty over Air Manis and does not lay claim to the island”.

Separately, the Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore, Ngurah Swajaya, confirmed that the island was under Indonesian jurisdiction and foreigners would need to go through immigration and customs in Batam.

“I can assure you that it is Indonesian territory,” he told the Post. “[Foreigners] can theoretically get there directly, provided they go through immigration, customs and quarantine facilities built by the Indonesian government.”

The site is also being developed by Indonesian property firms who have obtained the necessary permits through the provincial administration, Ngurah said.

Funtasy Island site manager Oke Yusma Nurjaman previously revealed that the resort, worth an estimated Rp 2 trillion in investments, had already sold out, with most of the buyers coming from Singapore.

Billed as the region’s largest eco-park resort, Funtasy Island is managed jointly by an Indonesian and Singaporean company, and has been developed over 20 years.