144 RI-Malaysia Boundary Marks In The Eastern Region Of West Kalimantan Are Missing

KAPUAS HULU - Commander of the RI-Malaysia Border Security Task Force (Dansatgas Pamtas) Yonif 144/JY Lt. Col. Inf. Andi Suratman stated that 144 boundary markers were missing during his duty to secure the border from June 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022, in the East, West Kalimantan.

"Many times we have patrolled to ensure the presence of boundary markers, but they were not found and we stated that 144 RI-Malaysia boundary markers were missing, we have conveyed them in stages to the leadership," said Lt. Col. Inf. Andri Suratman, when delivering his presentation at a coordination meeting with the Coordinating Ministry Team. Polhukam, at the Kapuas Hulu DPRD Building, West Kalimantan, reported by Antara, Tuesday, March 8.

As stated by Andri, the number of boundary markers in the operational assignment area of Infantry Battalion 144/JY in three regencies of East West Kalimantan is 2,416 boundary markers, 77 of which are damaged and 144 are declared missing.

According to him, the missing boundary markers are caused by many factors including natural conditions.

"Many lost due to natural factors landslides and so on," said Andri.

On the occasion, Andri also mentioned that in the RI-Malaysia border area in the area of operation there are 31 unofficial routes or commonly known as "rat roads".

He explained that the rat road in question is a road that is commonly used by the community, it can even be passed using four-wheeled vehicles.

"We carry out regular patrols, we also thwarted the smuggling of a luxury car from Malaysia, which is currently being auctioned at a price of approximately Rp. 1 billion," he said.

Andri said there were several prominent things that happened in the border area, including the smuggling of liquor, methamphetamine, illegal cigarettes and illegal possession of firearms.

But Andri admits that the border residents have a high sense of nationalism and patriotism.

Andri said border residents participated in maintaining the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia, the sense of belonging and pride in the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia was quite high.

"When there are boundary markers damaged or shifted by oil palm plantation activities, residents report to us, even though they (citizens) are employees of Malaysian palm oil plantations, border residents have a sense of protecting and belonging to the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia," said Andri.

To foster a sense of patriotism and love for the Republic of Indonesia, Andri also admitted that he had carried out various social activities to help alleviate the hardships of the community.

"We help the community in various social activities, routinely we do free treatment from door to door, help residents in the fields and carry out social services to build basic infrastructure for community needs," he explained.

Andri said that in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pamtas Yonif 144/JY Task Force personnel also assisted medical personnel in accelerating vaccination.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Deputy for the Coordination of Border Regions and Spatial Defense at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Brigadier General Suteikno Suleman said that the problems in the border areas would be used as material for analysis in future policy making in the context of realizing national security and resilience in border areas.

According to Suteikno, from several explanations from the local government, the Putussibau Kodim 1206 and the border security task force (Satgas Pamtas) there were several problems such as the development of basic infrastructure, the economic sector as well as the problem of illegal roads (rat trails), illegal possession of firearms and also related to with electricity and telecommunications in the Kapuas Hulu border area.

According to him, various proposals and issues presented at the meeting will be followed up through meetings at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, including with other relevant ministries.

"We will try to remind a number of related ministries that are related to the proposals and expectations of the regional government," said Suteikno.