adminKUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) has announced that only 123 hectares that were previously in Malaysian territory are now Indonesian territory, not as previously reported.
Its Minister, Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup, said in a statement that the media report on April 15 titled “127.3 hectares of Sebatik Island now belongs to Indonesia” was inaccurate and not in line with the official records that had been agreed upon by the Malaysian and Indonesian governments.
“The finalization of the land border alignment on Sebatik Island provides certainty in terms of law and administration, thus enabling the delivery of Government services, security management, development planning and land and resource management to be implemented more systematically and effectively,” he explained.
NRES also stressed that this entire process was carried out based on mutual agreement between the two countries, in line with international law and did not involve the principles of compensation, reciprocity or profit-loss considerations.
Arthur added that the settlement of the demarcation realignment on Sebatik Island was made in a package with the settlement of the demarcation realignment on Sg. Sinapad and Sg. Sesai where Malaysia has acquired an additional territory of 780 hectares which was previously in Indonesian territory, now becomes Malaysian territory.
He explained that as a result of the realignment of the border on Sebatik Island, Malaysia gained an expansion of five hectares of territory which was previously in Indonesian territory, now in Malaysian territory.
The finalization of this border alignment was sealed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Malaysia and the Republic of Indonesia on 18 February 2025, thus marking a significant achievement in negotiations and technical cooperation that has lasted for over 45 years.
The determination of the land boundary on Sebatik Island is based on the Boundary Convention of 1891 which was signed between the British Government and the Dutch Government on 20 June 1891.
Based on Article IV of the agreement, the land border on Sebatik Island is set along the latitude line 4º 10′ North.
In 1983, the results of a joint technical field review by Malaysia and Indonesia found that there were differences between the boundary lines recorded in the field compared to the 1981 Boundary Convention .
-Agency
