Dispute prompts Megawati to delay project

Dispute prompts Megawati to delay project

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: President Megawati Soekarnoputri has canceled plans to inaugurate the Tomini Bay Development Authority Board next week due to a dispute among three governors on Sulawesi island over the project.

"One of the governors has a different vision than us. Instead of sparking a conflict, we have postponed the plan temporarily," Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad said on Wednesday in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Megawati was scheduled to inaugurate the project during a visit to Gorontalo on Oct. 11.

Fadel said he had been notified by the maritime affairs and fisheries minister that Megawati would not be inaugurating the authority board during the visit due to the controversy.

The project involves the provinces of Gorontalo, North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi.

However, the Central Sulawesi governor has said he will oppose the project unless the main office of the authority board is located in his province.

He has argued that most of the 193,923-square-kilometer Tomini Bay is located within Central Sulawesi. --Antara