JAKARTA – The Vice chairman of The House of Regional Representatives of Republic of Indonesia (DPD RI) Nono Sampono hoped the limited revision of Law No. 32 About the Ocean could create efficiency to the safety of the marine of Indonesia.
So far, maritime security seems to be functioning separately because there are six ministries/agencies that have patrol boats.
“We must have efficiency in our marine safety and the Security Agency (Bakamla) should play the part as the prefect. Bakamla, ministries/agencies, police, customs and others currently seem to walk separately. While it’s true that they walk according to their main duties and functions, but in an integrated manner they need to run cohesively,” said Nono Sampono during the focus group discussion (FGD) of ‘The Urgency of Strengthening Law Enforcement’ at the Pertahanan University, Sentul, West Java, Tuesday (22/3).
This senator from Maluku also added that the Navy and its fleet are still very limited. Therefore, an institution is needed.
“We, on this limited revision of the Law, must acknowledge that Bakamla is the Indonesian Coast Guard that must be given a right to investigate and must be directly under the president,” he explained.
According to him, it has been 50 years that Indonesia only focused on structuring its maritime security system.
Until now, the struggle of unifying the whole of its maritime affairs has not yet been completed.
“For peace, Bakamla plays the role of law enforcer. In an emergency situation, it should also support the nation’s defense system. So there are two dimensions in which we don’t have them yet,” he said.
In line with Nono Sampono, the Chairwoman of the Bill Drafting Committee (PPUU) of DPD RI Badikenita Br Sitepu also added that there are 24 Laws which regulate marine safety.
There are even various institutions or work units that have the authority to implement law enforcement.
It then leads to a lack of coordination between institutions that have authority in the territorial waters.
“There are many laws and regulations which overlap and conflicted. Another problem in maritime and coastal security is the large number of authorized agencies, making it less effective in our marine security,” added this senator from East Sumatera.
On the same occasion, the Vice Chancellor I of Pertahanan University, Jonni Mahroza, also admitted that the existence of maritime law enforcement was still lacking.
For this reason, it is necessary to improve and synergize related institutions on marine security so that it can be in accordance with existing regulations.
“We hope that this limited revision of the law will be in accordance with what we expect,” he explained.
Head of Bakamla Aan Kurnia assessed that currently there are six ministries/agencies that have patrol fleets based on the law.
As a result, the current conditions seem to overlap the authority in taking action at sea.
“The impact now is the ambiguity of our maritime security responsibilities. Not to mention repeated inspections by different patrol boats,” he said.
