Amphibian Aircraft to Combat Illegal Fishing in Indonesia

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Indonesian government has now purchased a new type of aircraft as a solution to the recent illegal fishing cases. President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has ordered the involving authorities to drown the alien vessels caught performing illegal fishing in the Indonesian sea. The Indonesian Land Armed Forces (TNI AU) heightens its security measures as they just recently purchased an amphibian aircraft that is set to regularly patrol around the Indonesian waters.

"This is a solution that we have been searching for in response to the recent illegal fishing case in the Indonesian sea. Of course, the amphibian aircraft can control the sea as well as bringing specialized team to the sea to patrol around," said the chief of staff of Indonesian Air force Ida Bagus Putu Dunia at the TNI Headquarter, Cilangkap, Jakarta, Monday (22/12/2014).

The Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy Admiral Marsetio views the amphibian aircraft plan as an effective tool to support the Air Force contingent in combating illegal fishing by regularly monitoring the activity surrounding the Indonesian sea.

"Using such aircraft is very effective for monitoring illegal activities. Now that we have the amphibian aircraft, we can continue to monitor without worrying the lack of surveillance being used on illegal fishing. A similar kind of aircraft was once owned by the Indonesian navy in 1965," Marsetio shared.

TNI Commander General Moeldoko said that the amount of the budget on this newly purchased aircraft has been confirmed and submitted into the 2015 strategic plan. The strategic plan is one of the efforts being put out to ensure all the programs under Jokowi-JK are done on time and being used effectively. Indonesia is expected to lead the maritime sector in the world, should it succeed in managing its maritime issues.

"We will also link the Indonesian maritime pathway with China (South China Sea) where the two points are intertwined. Of course we are looking for such opportunity," said Moeldoko.

The TNI Meeting

The Indonesian Armed Forces held a leadership meeting with 7 ministries to evaluate the budget allocated in the 2014 agenda and discuss the plans for the agenda in 2015. Among the 7 ministers are, the Minister of Defence, State Minister for Chairperson of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Minister of Finance, Minister of Works and Public Housing, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs and the Minister of Maritime.

The first thing to discuss is the evaluation of 2014 budget and its usage. Previously, we might have been focusing on the improvement of the soldier’s welfare, now for the years to come we will focus on the salary provided for them, housing, new stations and healthcare. Through those discussions, we are hoping that the improvement of remuneration can be 100% done," General Moeldoko explained at the TNI Headquarter, Cilangkap, Jakarta.

Apart from discussing the strength and the welfare of human resources, General Moeldoko also stresses the need to discuss the strategic planning (Renstra) in relation to the improvement of Alutsista (Alat Utama Sistem Senjata).

"We have now possessed and purchased Alutsista (Weapon system) that is technologically advanced. In case of emergency, such as when the TNI aircrafts are encountering problems, we need this system to fix it. We are in dire need of that system, thus we need a budget for it" he explains.

"We will also put out effort in maintaining cooperation with other nations within the ASEAN and Asia- Pacific regions. This is where we will try to make TNI Indonesia the big brother of other ASEAN nations," Moeldoko added.

The meeting is expected to last up to two days, commencing on the 22 of December 2014 to 23 December 2014. In that event, as many as 173 TNI officers attended. Among them are four Chiefs of TNI. (Akp/Riz)