JOKOWI'S PLEDGE TO REVIVE INDONESIA'S MARITIME SUPREMACY LAUDED by Fardah

   Jakarta, Oct 25, 2014 (Antara) - Indonesia's new President, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, is expected to announce his cabinet that will include a minister to coordinate maritime affairs, a new portfolio to revive the glorious maritime past of the nation.

            Jokowi, throughout his election campaign, had spoken about reviving the country's past of finding riches at the sea and termed it as one of his ambitions.  
       During the times of the Sriwijaya Kingdom between the seventh and 13th century and centered in western Indonesia, the Kingdom was believed to have enjoyed maritime supremacy within the Southeast Asian region.

            In eastern Indonesia, maritime trade reportedly thrived with local fishermen sailing up to Australia and PNG to barter goods, while Europeans had landed on the Maluku islands to look for spices.

            Indonesia is one of the world`s largest maritime countries with about 5.8 million square kilometres of marine territory. The state has some 92,000 km-long beach and coastal areas, second after Canada.

            It is the biggest archipelagic country in the world, with around 70 percent of its territory as water and it has 17,480 islands.

            As part of the community's routine life, people enjoy various marine services, such as  trade, transportation, consumption, and recreation. The country is believed to enjoy a fishery potential of up to 60 million metric tons a year.

             Previous maritime affairs and fisheries minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo once mentioned that Indonesia's maritime economic potential was Rp 3,000 trillion [$257 billion] per year.

            Despite the huge marine potential, however, Indonesia utilizes only eight percent of it, necessitating strong efforts to optimise this sector, the then marine affairs and fisheries minister, Fadel Muhammad, had said while commemorating the World Ocean Day in 2011.

             The country's marine and fishery resource potentials are still wide open for development through aquaculture, marine tourism, mining, maritime transportation, and development of marine services.

              "Local governments must be aware of the importance of developing the oceans for the future of the nation,"  Fadel Muhammad, Cicip Sutardjo's predecessor, added.

             In his inaugural speech delivered on Oct 20, 2014, President Jokowi pledged to revive Indonesia's past maritime glory.

            "For too long, we have turned our backs on the ocean, the straits and the bay. This is the time for us to restore this sector so that we can prosper like our ancestors," he said.

             Jokowi believed that now is time to return to "Jalesveva Jayamahe," the motto of Indonesian Navy in the Sanskrit language, meaning, "At the sea, we will triumph."
  "As the captain of the ship, I invite all Indonesians on board to move towards a prosperous (future for the) nation," he added. "To all the fishermen, laborers, farmers, meatball sellers, drivers, all the professionals, I call on you to work hand in hand because this is the historical moment for us to work, work and work," he stated.

            Jokowi later told the press that to turn Indonesia into a great, prosperous and peaceful country, the nation must possess the soul of Chakrawati Samudra, words in Sanskrit that refer to a maritime nation with a strong merchant navy.

             To help focus on his maritime power ambition, Jokowi is expected to announce his "Trisakti" cabinet lineup on Sunday (Oct 26), which  is likely to have four coordinating ministers, including one for coordinating maritime affairs.

            Under the coordinating maritime affairs minister will reportedly fall the transportation ministry, the maritime affairs and fishery ministry, the tourism ministry, and the energy and mineral resources ministry.

           During the previous Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration, there were only three coordinating ministers but none for maritime affairs. The ministries of maritime affairs and fisheries, tourism, transportation, and the energy and mineral resources were under the coordinating minister for economic affairs.

            Law maker Al Muzzammil Yusuf lauded Jokowi's ambition to revive the nation's triumphant times at sea and optimize maritime development to exploits its full potential.

             "I appreciate and support the maritime policy emphasized by President Jokowi in his address. Although he just mentioned few aspects of it, it reflects the Jokowi administration's future concentration," Muzzammil, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission I, and politician of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said on Oct 21, 2014.

             He stated the new government should prioritize the modernization of the domestic shipping industry to produce high-quality boats and ships.

             The legislator also remarked that the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and the National Police must also strengthen security measures to protect the country's waters where illegal fishing activities and illegal territorial claims by neighboring countries are rampant.
   The Secretary General of the People's Coalition for Justice and Fisheries (Kiara), Abdul Hakim, also lauded Jokowi's pledge on building Indonesia into a maritime force to reckon with.

             Jokowi's message was clear as he began "by greeting the fishermen first," he said. He called on Jokowi to accord priority to the fishermen's welfare and ensure that the State Budget reflects that policy. ***1***
(f001/INE/a014)