Indon Wants To Break Aviation Treaty! Shan Says No! Can WP Handle Foreign Affairs?

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

JAKARTA: Indonesia's government is looking to take over control of the airspace above the Riau Islands from Singapore, the Jakarta Globe reported on Tuesday (Sep 8).

In response, Singapore's Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said any such move would have implications to the Republic's position as an aviation hub, noting that the current set of regulations were put in place with the approval of the global aviation authorities.

According to the newspaper, the issue was discussed during an Indonesian cabinet meeting after lawmakers called for action on the matter following the Indonesian military’s “complaints about the city-state's alleged violations with its fighter-jet drills and its protests against Indonesian military aircraft presence in the area”.

Indonesia Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan said that President Joko Widodo “has instructed us to prepare better equipment, better personnel over the next three or four years so that we can take over the management of our own airspace, which has been hitherto delegated to Singapore", the Globe quoted him as saying.

Mr Jonan said that Singapore had been in control of flights in the airspace above Riau Islands - including Batam, Tanjungpinang, Bintan and the Natuna islands - since 1946.

“We also will talk with Singapore and Malaysia. And when we're ready, we'll take over the airspace,” Mr Jonan told the Jakarta Globe.

The bilateral pact, which allowed the Singapore military to conduct activities in the airspace above the Riau Islands, expired in 2001 and has never been renewed, reported the Jakarta Globe.

AGREEMENTS WERE SANCTIONED: SHANMUGAM

Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, speaking later on Tuesday, noted that the current airspace agreements were sanctioned by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

"Today, under an agreement with the Indonesian government, our air traffic controllers handle the flight information region beyond our borders and over Sumatra, but the fees collected for that are handed over to the Indonesian government. This is something that is sanctioned by ICAO," he said at a press conference held in relation to the ongoing General Election.

"Under a series of agreements that we had negotiated, in the best interests of Singapore and our neighbors including Indonesia, we have been able to structure these sort of arrangements - which I think most Singaporeans are not aware of, but which are vital to regional air safety, which are vital in the interest of the countries involved and which are vital to our own aviation jobs.

"Any changes in that could have potential consequences to all of this, the current arrangements are done, in place, with ICAO sanctions, ICAO's approval.

"If there is any change to the agreement, any change that obviously impacts on us as an aviation hub and the jobs in Singapore. There are implications for our position as an aviation hub. We are one of the busiest airports in Asia, aviation hub in this region. Tens of thousands of jobs are dependent on our position as an aviation hub."

- CNA/rw

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/....html?cid=fbsg


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