KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today dismissed media reports alleging that Malaysia had ceded 5,207 hectares of land to Indonesia as compensation for three villages in the Nunukan area near the Sabah-Kalimantan border.
He stressed that Malaysia would instead hold amicable discussions with Indonesia on the matter in the near future.
“The report is not true. We will negotiate properly,” he told reporters briefly after attending the Madani Cultural Carnival and Penang People’s Feast 2026 at the Seberang Perai Tengah District Education Office in Permatang Pasir.
Also present were Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Steven Sim, who is Bukit Mertajam MP, and Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Dr Mohamad Abdul Hamid.
Recently, media outlets reported that three villages in Nunukan, North Kalimantan had allegedly shifted to Malaysia, while the border dispute in Pulau Sebatik remains unresolved. Indonesia was also said to have gained an additional 5,207 hectares of land from Malaysia.
Yesterday, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup clarified that negotiations on boundary marking and measurement in the Outstanding Boundary Problems (OBP) area were conducted harmoniously between both countries, without being based on reciprocity, compensation or profit-and-loss principles.
He added that the finalisation of the land boundary measurement was achieved through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Malaysia and Indonesia on 18 February 2025, following a comprehensive and transparent technical negotiation process spanning more than 45 years. – January 24, 2026