TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian islands for sale is currently a topic under scrutiny by the public. The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) reported that more than 226 islands in Indonesia had been sold as of 2023. Jakarta and North Maluku are the most affected, the agency said.

However, the North Maluku Government denied that there had been any island sales there. "There’s someone behind this islands sale issue,” said the Head of the Administrative Bureau of the North Maluku Regional Secretariat Leadership, Rahwan K. Suamba, on Thursday evening, August 1, 2024.

According to Rahwan, the North Maluku government at the time only authorized tourism developers to manage the islands. However, the development plan deviated from the initial agreement with the company.

Rahwan said the North Maluku government authorized PT Leadership Islands Indonesia (PT LII), a foreign investment entity, to manage the islands. "The company requested to manage 15 islands and 2 atolls for marine tourism activities,” he said, in a messaging application on Friday, August 2, 2024.

The land and waters of the islands are protected areas. At the time, PT LII proposed private marine tourism on the islands, which would involve local communities.

At that time, the CEO of PT LII was Natalia Kira Catherine, who received the management permit. The problem arose when the development plan involved a conservation area in the Widi Islands, which was not a point agreed upon by the North Maluku government.

The MoU to manage the Widi Islands itself was signed in 2016 by the North Maluku Government, the South Halmahera Government, and PT LII.

Later, PT LII failed to manage the island as a tourist destination due to insufficient capital.

Then came the report that the Widi Islands—which consist of dozens of islands—were sold through the Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions site in New York, United States. Rahwan said that it caused a polemic.

"Considering the performance of PT LII and the polemic that arose, PT LII's permit would be frozen and revoked if there’s no good faith,” he said.

IKHSAN RELIUBUN

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