IMSCB-Indonesia Maritime Security Coordinating Board (Bakorkamla) will soon set up a crisis center in order to accommodate the handling of sea crimes in Indonesian waters. The crisis center is expected to finish in 2007. Therefore, the security of Indonesian waters could be maximized”, said the executive chair of Bakorkamla, the Vice Admiral Djoko Sumaryono in Jakarta, on Wednesday.

“The crisis center will also be an information center needed by the people”, said Djoko in the dialog with several foreign ambassadors.

The crisis center is operated by combining information centers from twelve departments, which are under the coordination of the Marine Security Coordinating Board (Bakorkamla), such as the department of defense, the department of domestic affairs, the department of judicial affairs and human rights, and the department of transportation.

“In spite of minimizing the cost, the programs will still run effectively”, said Djoko. Apart from that, the crisis and information center will also have effective coordination with other information centers from the neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. The coordination with those of foreign countries is very important because many international illegal activities such as illegal fishing, illegal logging, and illegal migrants took place on and through the sea.

Djoko said further that –for the sake of maximizing marine security- the crisis center will also be connected with some satellites such as “Quick Bird” whose resolution is 0.6 meter and “Ikonos” whose resolution is one meter.

The IMSCB-Indonesia Maritime Security Coordinating Board (Bakorkamla) was set up in 1972 through the joint decree between the minister of defense and security affairs/the chief commander of the army, the transportation minister, the finance minister, the minister of judicial affairs, and the attorney general, number : Kep/B/45/XII/1972; SK/901/M/1972; Kep.779/MK/III/12/1972; J.S.8/72/1 and KEP-085/J.A/12/1972, on the forming of the IMSCB-Indonesia Maritime Security Coordinating Board and the task force of the Marine Security Joint Operation.

Under the changes of today’s governance order and strategic environmental development, there has been an urgent need to restructure the IMSCB-Indonesia Maritime Security Coordinating Board (Bakorkamla) for the sake of increasing coordination among inter-governmental institutions within the field of marine security.

In 2003, through the decree issued by the coordinating minister for political and security affairs, number Kep.05/Menko/Polkam/2/2003, a working group for the planning and developing marine security and law enforcement was set up.

On 29 December 2005, a decree was stipulated, that is the presidential decree number 81/2005 on the IMSCB-Indonesia Maritime Security Coordinating Board (Bakorkamla) which has become the legal fundamental for this organization (source : News Agency ANTARA)