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View all search resultsBakamla vows to increase presence in strategic waters
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Vice. Adm. Aan Kurnia (center) takes an oath during his inauguration as the new chief of Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) at the State Palace on Wednesday, Feb. 12. (Presidential Palace Press Bureau/Lukas)
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ewly inaugurated Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) chief Vice Adm. Aan Kurnia has said increasing the agency’s presence in the country’s strategic waters, including around the resource-rich Natuna islands near the highly disputed South China Sea, is one of his immediate priorities.
Aan took an oath before President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo last Wednesday at the State Palace, taking over from Ahmad Taufiqoerrochman, who is retiring.
“I will increase [Bakamla’s] presence at sea, particularly in the areas where our presence is needed,” Aan said at the Bakamla headquarters on Friday.
He also vowed to improve coordination and synergy with other maritime stakeholders, a measure he deemed necessary to help overcome Bakamla’s lack of human resources, weapons systems and patrol boats to support its operations.
“[Bakamla’s] weapons systems are still insufficient, but bear in mind, that with synergy [with other stakeholders] I will handle this issue,” Aan said, adding that he preferred to first try his best to maximize any existing resources and show the results of his work before asking for the government’s help to upgrade Bakamla’s armaments.
Experts have said that coordination would be among the most challenging problems Aan faced, as maintaining security and law enforcement in Indonesia’s waters involved multiple government agencies and ministerial units.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a research professor at the Indonesian Institute of Science’s (LIPI) Center for Political Studies, said the new Bakamla chief would have to navigate multiple stakeholders with overlapping authorities over sea-based operations, such as the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, the Indonesian Navy and the water police unit.
