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