REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia hopes negotiations with the Philippines over the hostage crisis will produce good results before the end of the month, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Thursday.

"We hope that before the end of the month a good solution will emerge from talks between our security officials and those of the Philippines," he said.

Until now, intensive negotiations to find a good agreement between the two countries are still underway.

Indonesia also hopes that the Philippines will give security guarantee to ships from Indonesia that pass through the Philippines' waters.

"Yes, the sooner the better. Certainly there must be an assurance that ships from Indonesia that pass through that country's waters will not be hijacked again," he said.

In view of this, Jusuf said he hoped Indonesia and the Philippines would cooperate to eradicate terrorism, the hijacking of ships and abducting crew members through joint patrols or the establishment of a joint task force.

"It is about security cooperation, which can be conducted through joint patrolling or the escorting out of ships. It is still being discussed," he said.

Due to the highjacking of a ship carrying coal at the end of March by the Abu Sayyaf group, dozens of barges have been afraid to return to the Philippines.

Many export companies are not allowing their ships to pass through the Philippines' waters carrying coal.

The impact of this has been that coal exports from Indonesia have been hindered resulting in the Philippines suffering from a shortage of coal used as raw material to produce electricity.

"Several cities, according to reports, have undergone rotating outages due to a shortage of coal supply as the raw material for producing electricity from Indonesia. At present, around 20 barges remain at Tarakan, Banjarmasin, because they do not want to return home (the Philippines)," Jusuf said.

If such a situation continues, Jusuf said, the Philippines would suffer because it will not be able to import coal from Indonesia and this would also hurt Indonesia's exports to the Philippines.

Regarding the Indonesian hostages still being held by the Abu Sayyaf group, he said the negotiations were still continuing, adding that the government is prioritizing the hostages' safety.

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