The protracted dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia concerning the Sipadan and Ligitan islands in Sulawesi Waters made headlines in 2002 when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded the islands to Malaysia.

Protecting the archipelagic nation’s more than 17,000 islands from foreign claims is a daunting task but off-shore territorial disputes actually also occur locally.

In the past few weeks, local media in East Kalimantan and West Sulawesi provinces ran headlines over the Balabalagan Islands in the Makassar Strait.

People in West Sulawesi, a new province born in 2004 after its separation from South Sulawesi, are concerned about the possibility of the province losing Balabalagan, which consists of 16 islands, to East Kalimantan after the Tana Paser regency administration in East Kalimantan claimed the area is part of the regency’s jurisdiction and included it in the regency’s spatial planning

It was just recently revealed that in late 2016, the Home Ministry approved the planning document, which had been submitted to the ministry a year before.

Officials in West Sulawesi have questioned the decision, especially given the fact that the ministry acknowledged Balabalagan as part of West Sulawesi’s Mamuju regency when it officiated the establishment of West Sulawesi province in 2004.

They suggested that the ministry had failed to scrutinize spatial plans proposed by regional administrations by further checking with neighboring areas.

It could be the second loss suffered by West Sulawesi after South Kalimantan in 2014 took over the Lere-lerekang Island previously registered as part of West Sulawesi’s Majene regency.

“The status of the island [as part of West Sulawesi] is strengthened by the decision of the ministry to acknowledge it as part of West Sulawesi in 2004. We don’t want to lose any more islands after Lere-lerekang,” said Mamuju Regent Habsi Wahid, adding that all infrastructure in Balabalagan were built by the Mamuju administration.

It has also been revealed that the East Kalimantan administration has filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to claim Balabalagan and challenge the 2004 Law on the establishment of West Sulawesi.

All this time, some 3,000 of the islands’ residents were registered as citizens of Mamuju regency and they were of the Mandarnese ethnicity from Mandar, one of the main tribes in West Sulawesi, Habsi said.

Last week, the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry invited parties from both provinces to discuss the case but the East Kalimantan administration skipped the meeting, said Mamuju administration spokesman Yani.

“We explained about the status of the islands and representatives from the Home Ministry showed us a map that confirmed that the islands were part of the West Sulawesi province,” Yani said.

However, since the area is closer to Kalimantan, the islands have better access to East Kalimantan. Thus, the provincial administration promoted the islands as a favorite tourist attraction with its beautiful coral reefs.

Balabalagan residents, mostly fishermen, also prefer to go to Paser or Balikpapan in East Kalimantan to sell their catch and shop for their daily needs.

It is a seven-hour trip by boat to Paser and the travel time could double if the residents want to go to Mamuju. “They also come here to see doctors,” said Paser regent Yusriansyah Syarkawi.

Similar territorial disputes involving regional administrations have also occurred before. In 2010, the Berhala Island was claimed by both the Riau Islands and Jambi provinces.

In 2013, Gresik city and Surabaya city, both located in East Java province, fought over the ownership of the Galang islands in East Java.

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