The Outermost Island Task Force Can Be A Solusi To Prevent Cases Like Widi Terulang Island

Widi Island in North Maluku (doc. North Maluku Provincial Government)

JAKARTA - MPR Chairman Bambang Soesatyo asked the government to take quick steps to overcome the polemic of Widi Island in South Halmahera Regency, North Maluku. The island is included in the list of auction sites Sotheby's Concierge Auctions in New York, United States on December 8-14.

"I encourage the government to immediately take quick and appropriate steps in overcoming the polemic of the islands in Indonesia, one of which is by realizing the formation of a task force (Satgas) to examine the outer islands in Indonesia," said the man who is familiarly called Bamsoet in his statement in Jakarta, Friday, December 16.

The task force is tasked with collecting data and supervising the possibility of utilization or investment that is not in accordance with the rules, in terms of procedures and the contents of the agreement.

Bamsoet asked the government to take seriously the issue of the sale of Widi Island and must comply with the provisions of the law, such as the people's consent.

According to him, the government must immediately cancel the memorandum of understanding or "MoU" and revoke the management permit of the Widi Islands granted to PT Leadership Islands Indonesia (LII).

"This step needs to be taken because of the unilateral action of PT LII as the holder of the Widi Islands management permit which is suspected of publicly violating all the provisions and contract clauses," he said as reported by Antara.

He encouraged the Widi Island polemic to be used as a momentum for the government to organize systems and investment mechanisms for small islands as a whole, including investors.

Previously, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD said the government would form a task force (Satgas) to examine permits for utilization or investment made on the outer islands.

"The government in the near future will form a task force to re-examine our outer islands in areas or provinces in the form of islands consisting of many islands, because there may be use or investment that is not in accordance with the rules, both the procedure and its contents," said Mahfud at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Office, Jakarta, Wednesday (14/12).

Mahfud conveyed this after the Cross-Ministerial and Institutional Coordination Meeting related to the management of the outer islands.

Present at the meeting were Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya, Minister of KKP Sakti Wahyu Trenggono and KSAL Admiral TNI Yudo Margono.

The formation of the task force is the aftermath of the "MoU" between the North Maluku Provincial Government and the South Halmahera Regency Government and PT Leadership Islands Indonesia (PT LII) regarding the utilization of the Widi Islands which is not in accordance with procedures.

The government also canceled PT LII's "MoU" for violating procedures. One of them is related to the absence of permission from the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in a memorandum of understanding made.