Coastal development needs locals

Coastal development needs locals

JAKARTA: Coastal and maritime development in the coming 10
years must empower local communities to manage their natural
resources in a sustainable manner, an expert said on Tuesday.

Tridoyo Kusumastanto of the Bogor Agriculture Institute said
coastal and maritime development had so far neglected the role of
local communities.

"We have produced rulings and implemented projects to develop
our coastal and maritime resources over the past decade, but
failed to encourage public participation," he said during a
national workshop.

Attendants at the workshop included Minister of Fisheries and
Maritime Affairs Rokhmin Dahuri and former environment minister
Emil Salim.

Tridoyo urged the use of foreign loans for coastal and
maritime development to help improve the prosperity of local
communities.

"We lack pro-coastal community, non-elitist and participatory-
based policies," Tridoyo said.-JP