The government is stepping up efforts to develop Natuna Islands, which border the South China Sea (SCS), a week after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo visited the region in a display of authority over the remote territory.

Jokowi held a limited Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where the government introduced a number of measures, described as “concrete steps”, toward improving economic development and defense in Natuna, a part of Riau Islands province which is located between mainland Malaysia and Kalimantan.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli said the government would speed up development of fisheries in Natuna after it was discovered that Indonesian fishermen reap only 9 percent of the potential catch in Natuna waters, the blame for which he put on rampant poaching.

The government will allow local fishing vessels above 30 deadweight tonnage and which are registered outside Natuna, mostly in overcrowded fishing grounds around Java Island, to operate in the fish-rich waters around Natuna.

“We’ve asked the maritime affairs and fisheries minister to grant permits for them in Natuna,” Rizal added.

Under the plan, the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry must also provide facilities for local fishery companies, including loans to be provided by state-owned banks and “broader opportunities to invest there”, according to Rizal.

Natuna Islands and its surrounding waters are the closest to the so-called “nine-dash line”, a demarcation unilaterally declared by China as the basis of its claim to most of the resource-rich SCS.

Unlike the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, Indonesia is not a claimant in any territorial dispute in the SCS, but around 83,000 square meters of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in Natuna is included within the area demarcated by the nine-dash line.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry must start constructing cold-storage facilities in August, the same month that a number of steps to improve defense in Natuna will be started.

The defense development plan will cover a move to extend the Ranai airbase’s runway to better accommodate F-16 jet fighters and another plan to build port facilities for three frigates, said Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu.

The government is also mulling whether to develop a radar facility. “Later, Natuna will be used as a home base for the country’s defense of its outermost regions,” Pramono added.

Aside from fisheries and defense, the government will also consider speeding up exploration in a number of gas-rich blocks in Natuna in a bid to develop Natuna into a hub for gas processing.

IGN Wiratmaja Puja, oil and gas director general at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, claimed the East Natuna block, previously known as Natuna D-Alpha, which has the largest gas reserve in Asia, could begin production in 2027 or 2028.

Although it has total proven reserves of 46 trillion cubic feet, the gas field has a high CO2 level of around 71 percent, necessitating advanced technology and huge investment to develop the block. As reported earlier, the block needs between US$20 billion and $40 billion in investment.

“The President has also instructed the state-owned enterprises minister to start constructing a power plant in the area of Natuna and neighboring Anambas Islands, with a minimum capacity of 2 x 25 megawatts,” Pramono added.

The government, however, did not elaborate the details of its plans for tourism, saying it would need to hold another meeting next month to draft a concrete plan to improve tourism in Natuna, which, along with Anambas, has huge potential as a world-class tourism destination for foreign yachts.

“The point of all this is that it is aimed at improving people’s welfare in Natuna,” Rizal said, “[and] upholding our sovereignty and territorial integrity. We don’t want to negotiate with anyone over the issue [of territorial integrity].”

The planned developments in Natuna, including the cold-storage facility, will be funded from the state budget, according to Pramono. Earlier that day, Jokowi praised the solid teamwork of the government’s anti-illegal fishing task force, dubbed Satgas 115, urging them “to keep up the good work” and take stern action against anyone violating Indonesian laws.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti led Satgas 115’s national coordination meeting in Jakarta in which she called for the government to strengthen the Navy and Air Force in order to help the task force enforce the law in Indonesia’s sovereign waters especially in the Natuna Islands.

“If we cannot stop our fish being stolen in our own waters, how can we claim to be able to protect our sovereignty? We need all stakeholders to be strengthened in order to be able to protect our sovereignty,” Susi said.

She said foreign poachers illegally entered Natuna waters because local fishermen did not have the capacity to catch fish in the area. Thus, in the near future, she said, her office would encourage local fishermen to operate in Natuna.
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