Ministry Of Home Affairs Reports New Evidence About Dispute 4 Aceh Island-North Sumatra

Deputy Minister Of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto/ANTARA/Fianda Sjofjan Rassat

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (Wamendagri) Bima Arya Sugiarto said the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) had reported the findings of the novum or new evidence regarding the dispute between the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra regarding the ownership of the four islands, to President Prabowo Subianto.

"We will use this new data, this novum, of course we will use it through a complete file and then we will convey it, we will report it to the Minister of Home Affairs so that he will then convey it to the President," Bima Arya said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, June 16.

However, Bima has not yet commented further on what new data was submitted to the President.

However, according to him, this data is very important in making decisions regarding regional disputes. He said the new data was obtained based on a search by a team from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"We can't convey the substance yet. We will convey it directly later, yes, but this data is very important to make decisions," he said.

On this day, the Ministry of Home Affairs held a meeting with a number of agencies related to determining regional boundaries, including the Ministry of Defense, Information and Geospatial Agency, Army, and Navy.

The Ministry Of Home Affairs Reports new evidence regarding the Aceh-North Aceh border to the President

Presiden Prabowo Subianto segera mengambil keputusan terkait polemik batas administrasi antara Provinsi Aceh dan Sumatera Utara, terutama menyangkut pengelolaan empat pulau di wilayah perbatasan kedua daerah.

This was conveyed by the Head of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Hasan Nasbi, responding to the differences in aspirations that arose between the two provinces.

"The president took over this directly and promised that it would be completed as soon as possible," said Hasan Nasbi.

Hasan explained that in the Unitary State system of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), regional sovereignty is entirely in the hands of the central government.

"Meanwhile, local governments only have administrative authority over the region which is the scope of their duties, including the management of islands within the region," Hasan added.

"In the concept of our country, the ones who have sovereignty over the region are the central government, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. The regional government has an administrative area," he said.

The polemic on the administrative boundaries between the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, which has been rolling since 1928, has resurfaced after different claims of management of four islands in the border area of the two provinces emerged.

The Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 300.2.2-2138 of 2025 has determined that four islands, namely Lipan Island, Panjang Island, Mangkir Ketek Island, and Mangkir Gadang Island are included in the administrative area of North Sumatra Province, to be precise Central Tapanuli Regency, which is directly adjacent to Aceh Singkil Regency.

This policy has sparked aspiration differences from the two local governments, each of which feels it has historical and administrative ties to the islands.