Sabang is losing its main tourist attraction
Sabang is losing its main tourist attraction
By Azhari
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Coral reefs have always been the main tourist attraction in Sabang, a once-flourishing port city on the Indian Ocean on Indonesia's western-most island of Sumatra.
Sabang's marine wealth has charmed foreign vacationers who love sea adventures. Sabang is home to a vast variety of coral reefs.
"I think the coral reefs are the most enjoyable. There are thousands of species there," said Tom David, an American tourist.
Sabang, dubbed an "undersea heaven", is visited by about 8,000 of the 30,000 tourists who travel to Aceh each year, according to the official statistics.
In addition to the breathtaking coral reefs, the hilly Sabang also boasts several hundreds of hectares of protected virgin forests. Both are equally attractive to ecotourists from all over the world.
Sabang, with a population of 24,000, was a fledging free port between 1970 and 1985, being accessible by both sea and air. The nearest air and sea ports to Sabang are in Banda Aceh.
Since the government revoked its free port status, Sabang has practically become a dead city. Businesspeople moved out and business activity suffered a tremendous drop.
But natives and the local administration have been tirelessly making efforts to revive their island's economy. One of the efforts is to beautify the surrounding nature to attract tourists. The nearby Weh islet is one example of the wonderful natural beauty of the area.
Unfortunately, all these efforts have been threatened by the unchecked fish bombing that is destroying much of the coral reefs and underwater life.
Antara has found that much of the coral reefs around Sabang, particularly Rubiah island, are in deplorable condition. In some areas, the reefs are affected by pest that locals call bulu babi.
Threatened
An Australian tourist and avid diver, Michael Lester, told about his disappointment with the extensive damage to the marine ecosystem around Sabang and Weh.
He estimated that if the fish bombing continued at the present rate, the coral reefs would probably vanish in 20 to 25 years.
"The environmental degradation in the tourist area has reached an alarming level," he said.
Asnawi, a Sabang-based environmentalist, said that the fish bombing had got out of hand because the illegal activity involved security personnel.
"Twenty to 25 percent of the coral reefs, especially those close to the coastline, have been destroyed," said Asnawi, secretary of the Foundation for Human Rights and the Environment.
Unfortunately, he said, neither the Sabang mayoralty government nor the Aceh provincial government seemed concerned by the ecological crisis.
The central government has earmarked Sabang as Indonesia's "western-tip gate", with the sea parks serving as the main tourist attraction in Aceh, which has a total population of 2.4 million.
"If all the reefs in Sabang and Weh vanish, what else do we have to offer visitors," Asnawi asked.
The fish bombing has given rise to the emergence of fast- breeding reef-eating animals which are a kind of snail.
"We are afraid the snails will quicken the destruction of the coral reefs," he said.
Foundation for Human Rights and the Environment chairman Sarman Yayadi said he had brought the matter to the attention of related governmental agencies.
"We have called on everyone to stop activities harmful to the environment," he said.