TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Indonesian president, who currently assumes leadership of the political party PDIP, Megawati Soekarnoputri, urged for islands to be recounted and researched again in this modern age that would be beneficial for the larger Indonesian population.

“At the time it was said to be 22,000 instead of 17,000. But because the conflicting number is what was agreed upon, I think this issue must be researched again,” said the PDIP chairperson in a national meeting at the party’s school in South Jakarta on Thursday, June 8.

The number of islands mentioned under Law No.6/1996 which oversees the Indonesian Maritime states that the country houses 17,508 islands. That number was contradicted by 2021 data mentioned in the Home Affairs Minister’s Decree No.100.1.1-6117/2022 on the Granting and Updating of Codes, Data of Administrative Regions, and Islands, which states that Indonesia has 17,001 islands.

Megawati personally believes that the actual number is around 17,000, which is data often referred to, and not more than that. She asserted that the islands must be utilized to their full potential through the politics of spatial planning for the development of strategic corridors.

In the political party schooling session, she asserted that PDIP will always side with environmental sustainability. She also said that as the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) steering committee head, Megawati had ordered the agency to research the potential honed by Indonesia’s maritime ecosystem.

“The political party must side with a sustainable environment,” she said.

ANTARA

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