By The MalayMail Online
May 31, 2017
Indonesia has demolished Sarawak firm Sacofa Sdn Bhd's facility that was built on one of its islands due to alleged breach of laws and after having expressed concern over national security, a report said.
Indonesia's First Adm. Semi Djoni Putra, who headed the demolition team, claimed that the telecommunications infrastructure firm's “Sarawak Gateway” landing station on Anambas Islands had breached two international laws.
The laws allegedly being broken were a 1983 law ratifying an Indonesian-Malaysian agreement on the laying of submarine cables, and a 1985 law ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“The firm holds principle licence, but their operations are illegal and do not contribute to our national interest. On May 4, we summoned them, asked them to dismantle [the landing station] but they did not respond,” Semi was quoted saying by Indonesian paper The Jakarta Post.
According to the paper, Sacofa had in 2002 built the landing station that is linked to an undersea cable, with the Indonesian Army (TNI) viewing the latter as a threat to the republic’s national security.
It said heavy equipment had destroyed the six-room facility, which composed of a battery room, diesel tank room, equipment room, generator room, guard room and store room.
