Sarwono sets terms for lease of Indonesian islets<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Foreign investors wishing to lease islets in
\nIndonesian waters must comply with conservation standards and
\ntheir businesses have to be community-based, Minister of Maritime
\nExploration Sarwono Kusumaatmaja said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"Small islands are rich (in resources), but they are
\nvulnerable. A small mistake could mean an island's destruction,\"
\nSarwono said after opening a communications forum to promote his
\nministry's programs.<\/p>\n
Investors would have to conform to conservation standards, and
\ntheir businesses would have to be a part of local economic
\nactivities involving the participation of the people living in
\nthe vicinity, he said.<\/p>\n
The ministry and various non-governmental organizations are
\ncurrently drafting a set of rules for the management of small
\nislands which will be used as a basis for investors to lease the
\nislands, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The most important norms would be on conservation. Every
\neconomic activity should be based on conservation,\" said Sarwono,
\nwho was state minister of the environment between 1993 and 1998.<\/p>\n
Sarwono's ministry, established by President Abdurrahman Wahid
\nin October, announced last month that the government was looking
\ninto the possibility of renting out some 10,000 uninhabited
\nislets to investors.<\/p>\n
Many members of the House of Representatives criticized the
\ngovernment for making the announcement without prior consultation
\nwith the House, and some feared that leasing the islets without
\nstrict supervision would lead to their destruction.<\/p>\n
The Riau provincial administration, which oversees the
\nhundreds of islands in the Riau archipelago south of Singapore,
\nalso opposes the plan, fearing the move will have psychological
\nimpacts on local people.<\/p>\n
Sarwono said the outbursts of rejection were based on fears
\nthat the central government would act on its own in allowing
\ndestructive economic exploitation of the islands.<\/p>\n
Asserting that the final decision would be in the hands of
\nprovincial administrations, Sarwono pointed out that leasing the
\nislets would bring in significant revenue for a region.<\/p>\n
Although these islets are technically uninhabited, any
\ninvestment project would have to involve the surrounding
\ncommunity, he said.<\/p>\n
He cited maritime tourism, and the cultivation of pearls,
\ngiant clams and sea cucumbers as examples of economic activities
\nthat enhance conservation efforts.<\/p>\n
The plan could be modeled on the experience of the Caribbean
\nislands, which reap some US$9 billion a year from maritime
\ntourism and still conserve the environment, he said.<\/p>\n
The director general of coastal areas, beaches and small
\nislands, Rokhmin Dahuri, said on Tuesday that initially between
\n100 and 200 islets would be put up for lease.<\/p>\n
These would be islands in North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and
\nWest Nusa Tenggara, he said.<\/p>\n
\"But again it will depend on the provincial administrations,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Investors from Kuwait, Singapore, the Netherlands, Japan and
\nChina have expressed interest in leasing the islets to develop
\nmaritime tourism and cultivation, Rokhmin said. (10)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sarwono-sets-terms-for-lease-of-indonesian-islets-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}