VIVAnews - The revealing fact about the sales of Indonesian islands has yielded protests from several government officials. State Defense Commission member, Tjahjo Kumolo urged that the activities should be blocked immediately.
“Whatever the reason is, any slightest bit of this country is not for sale,” Kumolo texted VIVAnews on Wednesday, August 26.
On privateislandonline.com, a website which accommodates island sales in all over the world, three Indonesian islands are listed as on sale items. They are the Macaroni Island, the Siloinak Island and Kandui Island. The three islands can be found under the ‘Island for Sale in Indonesia’ section. Macaroni, Siloinak and Kandui are parts of Mentawai archipelago in West Sumatra.
The 15 acre-wide Macaroni Island is offered at US$ 4 million while 24 acre-wide Siloinak Island and 26 acre-wide Kandui Island are worth US$ 1.6 million and US$ 8 million respectively.
The islands are promoted as “most renowned surfing destinations” for their best waves in the world. The beauty of the Indonesian islands is also described as the “ultimate combination of business and lifestyle”.
West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi earlier said he never issued any permit to sell the islands. “How could it be? I never gave any permission,” Fauzi said. He further explained that the report on the island sales were false.
According to the information obtained by Mentawai regency government, the administrator of Macaroni and Kandui Island are only selling the resorts on the island and not the island itself. After carefully reading the offer on the website, it was indeed mentioned that it is the Macaroni’s Island Resort and Kandui Island Resort that go on sale.
However, Fauzi acknowledged that Siloinak Island is indeed being offered. “But of course, it won’t be that simple because there are so many rules that have to be dealt with,” he immediately added. Once again Fauzi firmly stated that he never legally allowed the island sales because it would be violating the law.
“If there is any advertisement on Indonesian island sales, the parliamentary Commission I will be against it and ask the sales to be cancelled,” Kumolo, who is also the head of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) Faction, said.
Meanwhile, privateislandsonline.com describes Indonesia as the biggest archipelago in the world with over than 18,000 islands. It also mentioned that Indonesia rents some of the islands. “There are a scant few freehold properties available in Asia for foreigners, but leaseholds are available in places like Indonesia,” the website says.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
