PDIP Legislator: Investigate And Act On All Officials Who Allow Morowali Airport To Operate Without State Control!

Member of Commission I DPR TB Hasanuddin/PHOTO: Nailin In Saroh-VOI

JAKARTA - Member of Commission I DPR from the PDIP faction, TB Hasanuddin, highlighted the existence of a Special Airport owned by PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) which has recently gone viral and has become a national polemic.

The special airport is said to have operated illegally without the supervision of Customs and Immigration as found by the Minister of Defense, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin during a working visit to Morowali this November.

The PDIP legislator from the West Java electoral district emphasized that the alleged airport operation without the involvement of state officials was a matter that had to be seriously considered. In fact, he said, not only from the legal aspect, but also related to the security and sovereignty of the state.

"If it is true that the airport has been operating for years without Customs and Immigration supervision, it even has the potential to violate flight rules, this is a big problem. The state should not be missed like this," said TB Hasanuddin to VOI, Wednesday, November 26 evening.

The member of the Commission in charge of defense emphasized that every airport facility including a special airport owned by the company must comply with Law Number 1 of 2009 concerning Aviation and all regulations related to national security and supervision.

The airport is a vital strategic object. Whoever the owner is, must still be under full state control. No private party should run flight facilities as if it were a private area without the supervision of the apparatus," said TB Hasanuddin.

He also said that the existence of Customs, Immigration, and aviation authorities was mandatory, not an option.

Every movement of humans and goods by air must be recorded, supervised, and controlled by the state. Otherwise, this opens up gaps in the entry of various threats of smuggling, traffic of people without control, to potential national security threats," said Major General Retired TNI.

Previously, Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin revealed that there is an airport in Indonesia that does not have a state apparatus.

"This is an anomaly, in the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia which we must enforce regulations, but it turns out that there are still loopholes that are vulnerable to economic sovereignty and can even affect national stability," said Sjafrie in Morowalo, Central Sulawesi, Thursday, November 20.

Sjafrie emphasized that this fact is one of the reasons for the TNI to hold an intercept (intercept) exercise simulation, for aircraft that may have indications of illegal activities. According to the Minister of Defense, this is a form of state presence.

Apart from being in the air, exercises were also held by TNI soldiers against airports that did not have state equipment on duty at the airport.

"This is part of our evaluation to carry out a control and security by regulating the provisions that have been issued, but we cannot control the provisions that we issue ourselves," said Sjafrie.