16 Fishermen Carry Out Illegal Sand Mining In Labuan Bajo NTT Arrested By The Indonesian Navy

Labuan Bajo Lanal personnel were with fishermen suspected of illegally mining marine sand in the Labuan Bajo area, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). (ANTARA/HO-Lanal Labuan Bajo.)

JAKARTA - The Labuan Bajo Naval Base (Lanal) arrested 16 fishermen suspected of illegally mining marine sand (illegal mining) in the waters north of Labuan Bajo, West Masyarakat Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

"These fishermen use seven small traditional fishing boats or those under 7 GT, for the purpose of reclamation of the beach of one of the resorts in Labuan Bajo," said Commander Lanal (Danlanal) Labuan Bajo Lt. Col. Laut (P) Iwan Hendra Susilo when contacted in Labuan Bajo, Tuesday 11 February, confiscated by Antara.

He added that the dozens of fishermen who were arrested on Monday (10/2) at 20.15 WITA were fishermen from Rangko Hamlet, Tanjung Boleng Village, Boleng District.

He explained that the arrest operation was a follow-up to the direction of the Indonesian Navy leadership which emphasized that the Navy should always be proactive in law enforcement activities in the waters of Indonesian jurisdiction, especially in the field of mineral utilization and coal and preserving natural resources.

Prior to carrying out the action, he continued, Lanal Labuan Bajo had coordinated with the Class III Portmaster and Port Authority Office (KSOP) Labuan Bajo and the West Manggarai Marine and Fishery Resources Supervisor (PSDKP) to collect licensing documents related to the illegal mining activity.

From the results of the initial investigation, the Labuan Bajo Lanal Patrol Team found several initial allegations of violations related to marine sand mining, including the discrepancies in the coordinates of sea sand mining as stated in the Approval for Compliance with Marine Spatial Utilization Activities (PPKPRL) and the absence of a sea sand utilization business permit from the resort as the business actor.

"The state loss due to illegal Mining activities is estimated at around Rp. 1.8 billion if the sea sand has been completely moved to the reclamation site," he said.

Furthermore, Lanal Labuan Bajo delegated the case along with evidence in the form of seven fishing boats and sea sand to West Manggarai PSDKP for further investigation.