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Celebrating a hundred years of maritime nation
"Nenek moyangku orang pelaut/Gemar mengarung luas samudera/Menerjang ombak tiada takut/Menempuh badai sudah biasa
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"Nenek moyangku orang pelaut/Gemar mengarung luas samudera/Menerjang ombak tiada takut/Menempuh badai sudah biasa ...."
(Our ancestors were sailors/ They sailed across the oceans/ Challenged the waves fearlessly/Surfed the storm familiarly.)
In the early 1990s or before, the above song was popular in Indonesia. I wonder whether Indonesian children nowadays still sing this song. One thing for sure, children seem to be more interested in drawing mountain views rather than seas. Does it indicate a degradation of the maritime spirit? Let us go back a while.
In 1908, 100 years ago, Indonesians initiated the national awakening. It was followed by the Youth Pledge in 1928 declaring one state, one nation and one language: Indonesia. This then led Indonesia to independence in 1945.
In 1939, the Netherlands Indische stipulated the 1930 Ordnance concerning territorial sea and maritime environment, which was then adopted by the Indonesian government. It declared only 3 nautical miles of territorial sea measured from the coastline of each island.
With this ordnance, the maritime areas beyond 3 miles were considered as high seas. This, consequently, was disadvantageous to national security.
To deal with this situation, prime minister Djoeanda Kartawidjaja declared new Indonesian maritime claims through the Djoeanda Declaration on Dec. 13, 1957. This asserted that Indonesia should be seen as one nation consisting of land, maritime and space areas. The declaration also concerned the archipelagic baseline connecting the outer points of the outlying islands, from which maritime jurisdiction was measured.
In other words, the Djoeanda Declaration was the seed of the "Archipelago Principle" (Wawasan Nusantara). This was then followed by the stipulation of Law No. 4/Prp/1960 concerning Indonesian waters, which also governed basepoints and baselines.
In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was signed and Indonesia ratified it in 1985 through law No. 17/1985. Since then, Indonesia has been bound by the convention. The convention also governs maritime boundary delimitations among coastal states.
In this regard, Indonesia deals with 10 neighboring states: India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Timor Leste.
Indonesia has been considered reasonably productive in establishing maritime boundary agreements. Indonesia agreed to several maritime boundaries with its neighbors such as Malaysia (1969 and 1970), Thailand (1971), Australia (1971, 1972), Singapore (1973), Papua New Guinea (1973) and India (1974).
Unilaterally, Indonesia also claims continental shelf (1973) and exclusive economic zone (1983). However, there are still several unresolved boundaries to settle.
It has to be admitted that the relationship between Indonesia and its neighbors is still colored by maritime disputes and problems concerning ocean affairs. The case of the Ambalat Block in 2005, the lack of management of small outer islands and unfinished maritime boundary settlements with neighbors are just a few examples. Due to lack of information, people still think that Indonesia may lose islands. Simply speaking, there is still work to do.
With regards to maritime boundaries, some points need to be taken into consideration. Indonesia should devote her time and energy to settle the never-before delimited boundaries with the Philippines, Palau and Timor Leste. Along with that, unsettled segments of maritime boundaries also need to be finalized (with Malaysia and Singapore).
In addition, Indonesia also needs to delineate its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles as indicated by Article 76 of the UNCLOS. Such an extension may be made and should be submitted to the United Nations before May 13, 2009. Nine other states/parties have made their submissions, while Indonesia has only one year to go.
After maritime limits and boundary delimitation, information dissemination then becomes critical. The Indonesian government should disseminate information concerning maritime claims and boundaries so that people are well informed. Fishermen and people residing in coastal areas should be the main group for this dissemination.
This is to avoid misunderstanding and unwanted incidents in relation to maritime limits and boundaries such as border crossing in fishing activities. Together with this, the Indonesian Navy should be equipped with more sophisticated operational facilities.
Another important agenda is to enhance the expertise concerning ocean affairs, maritime delimitation and other aspects of the law of the sea. This expertise should cover technical and non-technical issues. For example, Indonesia requires more geoscientists (geodesy, geophysics, geography, geology) with interest in the law of the sea.
The ultimate goal is to ensure security and stability, which in turn results in economic wealth. Being an archipelagic state, Indonesia should treat the sea/ocean as one of the focal points of economic development. As written by Idris, et al (2007), Indonesia should wake up the "economic giant", as the mega potentials of ocean resources are called. The stipulation of Law No. 27/2007 concerning the management of coastal zones and small islands is, ideally, a good start for this promising vision.
However, as also noted by Afghani (The Jakarta Post, April 15, 2008), serious attention should be given in order to avoid misinterpretation. It has been noted that there is space for improvement in the newly stipulated law.
It is time for us to celebrate 100 years of the national awakening with the consciousness and courage of a maritime nation. Let us teach our children to develop the spirit of a maritime nation. The next generations are also sailors, who will challenge the waves fearlessly. Happy birthday, Indonesia!
The writer is a lecturer in the Department of Geodetic Engineering, Gadjah Mada University, and a researcher for the United Nations in ocean affairs and the law of the sea (2007). This is a personal opinion.
