Lawmakers want Jakarta to get tough with Singapore

The Straits Times, February 19, 2007

SOME Indonesian lawmakers want Jakarta to put more pressure on Singapore to sign an extradition treaty, saying the ban on sand exports was not enough.

'We need to take much tougher measures against them. I don't know, but the government is too soft,' said Mr Permadi, a member of the parliamentary committee on security and international affairs.

His remarks, and those of another MP and two analysts made the front page of The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Mr Permadi, a member of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said the sand ban was 'too little to push Singapore to quickly sign the extradition treaty'.

He said there was 'growing impatience among lawmakers' over the delay in signing the treaty.

'As a big country, we don't have to be afraid of taking action against Singapore, including breaking diplomatic relations,' he said.

The newspaper said he also complained that 'Singapore looked down on Indonesia' by postponing signing the treaty.

The other legislator, Mr Yusron Ihza Mahendra from the Muslim-based Crescent and Star Party, said Indonesians had become impatient with Singapore's 'apparent efforts to prolong treaty negotiations'.

He is the younger brother of State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra and his party is part of a loose grouping of political parties supporting the government.

Indonesia and Singapore are in talks over an extradition treaty and a defence cooperation treaty. They had agreed in 2005 that the two pacts should be 'negotiated in parallel, as one package'.

But in an apparent contradiction, Indonesian Foreign Ministry secretary-general Imron Cotan told the Post last week Jakarta wanted the two agreements signed separately.

A few days later, another senior official, Mr Primo Alui Joelianto, told the Post that the sand ban was a way to put pressure on Singapore over both the treaty issue and 'border disputes'.

The Post on Monday also reported comments from an international law expert who said the latest remarks should be seen as an expression of Indonesia's 'serious impatience'.

University of Indonesia's Mr Hikmahanto Juwana thought the government was likely to take further action, and added: 'Singapore should respond to this if it doesn't want the relationship to get worse.'

Mr Bantarto Bandoro of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would have to talk directly to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the issue.

'The extradition treaty is...a must for Indonesia to be able to fight corruption,' he said. 'I am afraid the sand ban and other measures won't work. Both leaders must meet to settle the problem to avoid the relationship worsening.'

Meanwhile, two senior Indonesian military officials have expressed concern over Singapore's reclamation works using Indonesian sand.

On Sunday, the Navy's inspector-general, Major-General Nono Sampono, told Kompas that Singapore's reclamation works had had an impact on Indonesia's territory.

On Monday, Rear-Admiral Denny Noveni was quoted in Koran Tempo daily as saying that the reclamation works had expanded Singapore's territory by 12km.

'Part of the coast of Indonesian islands has diminished,' said the commander of the West Naval Fleet.

'Sebaik island, for example, has now disappeared because its sand was taken and sold to Singapore.'