(DEFENSE SECURITY ASIA)-A few days ago, the Indonesian media reported that its Home Minister Tito Karnavian had paid a visit to Karang Singa and Tubir Selatan (South Ledge) which is claimed to belong to the country.

Karang Singa is located not far from South Ledge, Middle Rocks and Pedra Branca on the busy shipping route in the Straits of Singapore.

Through a decision reached by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May 2008, Middle Rocks was decided to belong to Malaysia while Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore.

The ICJ did not make a clear decision on the position of South Ledge, a maritime feature that only appears at low tide, as it is located in overlapping waters between the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia, Pedra Branca and Middle Rocks.

Malaysia and Singapore have already set up a Joint Technical Committee to delineate maritime boundaries in the areas around Pedra Branca and Middle Rocks as well as determine sovereignty over South Ledge.

Malaysia and Singapore are negotiating to determine who owns South Ledge and Indonesia is not included in the negotiations.

Given that the position of South Ledge is closer to Middle Rocks than Pedra Branca, it is very likely that it will be owned by Malaysia, in fact it is understood that a monument has been erected to indicate that South Ledge belongs to Malaysia.

If South Ledge belongs to Malaysia, why does Indonesia want to claim it as its own?

However, during his recent visit to Karang Singa and South Ledge, Tito said South Ledge and Karang Singa (located not far from South Ledge) are located within Indonesian territory and are the property of the country.

“We went to Kepri (abbreviation for Riau Islands) the number one goal is to see two important reefs, namely Karang Singa and Karang Selatan (South Ledge). Why? Because it is located in the Straits of Malacca and enters our territorial territory, “explained Tito in his media statement published by the Detik.com portal.

Admin is not sure who the owner of South Ledge is, but Indonesia says it is the owner of the coral reef while claiming that Malaysia has acted to include the Karang Singa in the official map of its territory.

During the visit, Tito said he viewed the two coral reefs as a very important “choke point” and should be given a sign indicating that it belongs to the republic of Indonesia.

The country’s authorities, he said, planned to build lighthouses on the two coral reefs.

“The lighthouse was made this year, we want the sign to show that it is indeed our territorial sovereignty,” said Tito, adding that he did not want the Sipadan-Ligitan incident to be repeated against Indonesia.

What is Malaysia’s reaction if Indonesia continues with its intention to build the Lighthouse in South Ledge? The ICJ only stated that only Malaysia and Singapore were negotiating to determine the ownership of South Ledge, it did not mention anything about Indonesia.

What is Malaysia’s reaction to Jakarta’s move to build a lighthouse in Karang Singa and claim the coral reef as its own?

We are waiting for a statement from Wisma Putra. – DSA

Source: Defence Security Asia