TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), General Gatot Nurmantyo, issued an order to seal and cease the operations of a Malaysian telecommunication company PT Sacofa, on Thursday, April 6, 2017.
PT Sacofa apparently has violated Indonesia’s unitary state considering that the foreign company does not have a legal permit to install a server and fiber optic cable network in West Tarempa Village, Riau Islands.
According to Gatot, the company’s operational stoppage is in accordance with the International Law No. 1/1983, which also includes UN’s convention regarding maritime law (UNCLOS) of 1982 that was ratified to Law (UU) No. 17/1985 on the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“The Law No. 17/1985 states that an archipelagic state provides the opportunity for a company to install underwater cables with the permission from the state involved,” General Gatot said on Thursday, April 6, 2017.
He explained the fiber optic cables owned by PT Sacofa that transverse over Indonesia’s seabed could potentially endanger Indonesia’s state security and sovereignty. “The fiber optic cable and server could directly link to a satellite if it is added with additional devices that can detect vibration, either from the land or submarine,” he said.
Other than that, PT Sacofa’s operation has actually been stopped since November 26, 2016, but on March 23, 2017, the company decided to restart its operations. “The Ministry issued a statement saying that the company is banned from conducting further activities since this involves Indonesia’s state sovereignty,” the TNI Commander General Gatot said.
INGE KLARA SAFITRI