Indonesia to settle border isles
BBC News, June 4, 2003
Indonesia is reportedly planning to resettle hundreds of families onto outlying uninhabited islands in an attempt to prevent other countries from claiming them.
The world's largest archipelago lost two islands, Sipadan and Ligitan, to Malaysia in an International Court of Justice ruling last year, after a long-running diplomatic battle.
"We have 88 small, empty islands that are located on border areas with neighbouring countries. We will relocate people to these islands for the sake of our sovereignty," Djoko Sidik Pramono from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.
The relocation will take place under the country's transmigration scheme, which aims to move people away from densely populated areas. The scheme expects to relocate more than 300,000 families over the next six years.
Mr Djoko said the programme was presently focusing on its northern island of Natuna.
"We have resettled 960 families and we are planning to move more than 1,000 families to the island," he said.
The government has allocated substantial subsidies for those who relocate, according to The Jakarta Post.
Mr Djoko said that a private company would provide the newcomers with fishing equipment, while the government would develop infrastructure, such as houses and roads.
In February, Indonesia discovered that it has 584 more islands than previously thought.
New satellite pictures measured all land areas of over 30 square metres and found the total number of islands inside the country's borders was 18,108.
Although only about 6,000 of Indonesia's islands are inhabited and most of the new islands were merely rocky outcrops, the coral reefs around them are very valuable to the country's fishing and tourist industries.
BBC News, June 4, 2003
Indonesia is reportedly planning to resettle hundreds of families onto outlying uninhabited islands in an attempt to prevent other countries from claiming them.
The world's largest archipelago lost two islands, Sipadan and Ligitan, to Malaysia in an International Court of Justice ruling last year, after a long-running diplomatic battle.
"We have 88 small, empty islands that are located on border areas with neighbouring countries. We will relocate people to these islands for the sake of our sovereignty," Djoko Sidik Pramono from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.
The relocation will take place under the country's transmigration scheme, which aims to move people away from densely populated areas. The scheme expects to relocate more than 300,000 families over the next six years.
Mr Djoko said the programme was presently focusing on its northern island of Natuna.
"We have resettled 960 families and we are planning to move more than 1,000 families to the island," he said.
The government has allocated substantial subsidies for those who relocate, according to The Jakarta Post.
Mr Djoko said that a private company would provide the newcomers with fishing equipment, while the government would develop infrastructure, such as houses and roads.
In February, Indonesia discovered that it has 584 more islands than previously thought.
New satellite pictures measured all land areas of over 30 square metres and found the total number of islands inside the country's borders was 18,108.
Although only about 6,000 of Indonesia's islands are inhabited and most of the new islands were merely rocky outcrops, the coral reefs around them are very valuable to the country's fishing and tourist industries.
