Government Called On to Intensify Supervision of Foreign Ships

Tempo Interactive, Wednesday, 17 February, 2010 | 15:41 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Kupang :The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Provincial House of Representatives (DPRD) member, Paulinus Domi, said there are still many foreign ships passing the NTT waters freely, especially in the border area between Indonesia and Timor Leste, as well as the area bordering Australia.

Based on a research conducted by private institutions on traffic over the NTT waters, particularly in the border areas, these ships are sailing without the supervision of the relevant authorities. “As a result, NTT is losing up to billions of rupiahs in excises and taxes,” Paulinus said, in Kupang on Wednesday.

These foreign ships are sailing freely because there is lack of supervision from the officials and the regional government, he added.

Paulinus said foreign ships are often found in the waters of Northern Central Timor (TTU) regency and Alor, which borders with Timor Leste. However, he did not mention how many foreign ships were found passing the waters.

Therefore, Paulinus called on the regional government to conduct a research and make register foreign ships that often sail on NTT waters, and the supervision there.

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