Malaysia-Indonesia Land Border Issue: Malaysia Gains Extra 780 Hectares - PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has gained an additional 780 hectares following the re-measurement and re-demarcation of the Outstanding Boundary Problem (OBP) areas at Sungai Sinapad and Sungai Sesai along the Malaysia-Indonesia border, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the newly confirmed area places Kampung Kabulangalor, Kampung Lepaga and Kampung Tetagas within Malaysian territory.

“All three villages now fall within Sabah. So the claims that Malaysia ceded 5,207 hectares to Indonesia as compensation for three villages in Nunukan are untrue and misleading, if not outright malicious,” he said during a special briefing on the Malaysia-Indonesia border issue in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Anwar said that for the Sungai Sinapad and Sungai Sesai OBP, joint investigation, marking and re-measurements by Indonesian and Malaysian mapping officers were conducted up to August 2022 and October 2023, resulting in an agreed final distance of 11.545 kilometres (km).

For the Pulau Sebatik OBP, he said marking and re-measurement were conducted from February to November 2019, establishing a final distance of 23.842 km from the East Pillar to the New West Pillar.

“Every inch of land was negotiated and agreed upon by the Sabah Government before being finalised with the Malaysian and Indonesian governments. Only after that was it referred to the 45th Indonesia-Malaysia Joint Border Committee Meeting (JIM-45) on Feb 18, 2025.

“Through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked at the meeting, Malaysia gained an additional 0.05 square kilometres, or five hectares, in the Sebatik OBP, and 7.8 square kilometres, or 780 hectares, in the Sungai Sinapad-Sungai Sesai OBP,” the Prime Minister explained.

He said the total disputed area in the Sungai Sinapad-Sungai Sesai OBP within sectors B2700-B3100 amounted to 5,987 hectares and had historically fallen under Indonesian administrative control.

“If you look at the map, the area was originally part of Indonesia’s. However, because the map was never finalised, Malaysia did not agree. Still, since 1915, it was never disputed by the British government or successive Malaysian governments,” he said.

-- BERNAMA