Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian visited Nipa Island, near Singapore, on Saturday as both institutions agreed to strengthen monitoring of the border areas between the two countries.

They said the enhanced monitoring was needed to prevent transnational criminals encroaching on Indonesian territory.

“The most important thing now is to enhance our equipment like radar and long-range surveillance cameras to ensure that we can identify ships that cross our territory,” said Hadi while on the island, located some 7.7 kilometers west of Singapore.

Following reclamation work in 2004 the area of the island was expanded to 60 hectares from being only a few hectares previously.

The island has a strategic location as it lies in international sea lanes, Hadi said, adding that it needed adequate monitoring equipment to help prevent transnational crime such as drug trafficking and liquor smuggling.

Hadi said he wanted to install devices that could identify automatic identification systems (AIS) so that authorities could detect whether crews of any vessels had turned off their AIS while in Indonesian waters.

The military commander is also considering whether to increase the military presence from the current 30 personnel deployed. “As for now, we are still focusing on the technology,” he said.

Meanwhile Tito instructed the police officers on the island to fully support the work of the TNI to ensure the security of the country’s territory.

“We realize we have limited resources, while the TNI has many resources such as boats and drones. Hence cooperation between both institutions is needed to prevent transnational crime,” Tito said.