Thousand Islands to be developed into tourist haven

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso promised yesterday to help improve the living standards of communities in the Thousand Islands by developing the scattered islets into a tourist haven.

Sutiyoso said many locations in the Thousand Islands had the potential to be developed into fishing villages to attract local and foreign tourists.

"I promise the plan, if it materializes, would largely benefit fishing families," he said. "It is rare for a capital city to have a chain of islets like the Thousand Islands on its doorstep."

The city administration identified the islands of Pramuka, Untung Jawa and Panggang as having the greatest potential to be developed into tourist attractions.

The Thousand Islands cover 6,997 square kilometers, and contain 110 islands with a population of 16,224 people. It is Jakarta's least developed subdistrict.

Only 40 of the islands are inhabited. The remainder are tourist spots and nature reserves.

Fishing families make up most of the population in the area.

The governor visited Untung Jawa and Pramuka islands yesterday and gave out free rice, sugar, cooking oil and noodles to the poor.

Sutiyoso said that since sea, sun and sand were very much a part of the area's charm, tourist developments would focus on these three aspects of life in the island chain.

"The administration plans to develop environmentally-friendly tourism on the islands. Basic infrastructure will include air strips for light aircraft so that visitors don't have to rely solely on boats like they do now," he said.

The governor said more trees would be planted on the islands and residents would be required to beautify fences and clean drains, with government assistance.

"We also have a turtle hatchery on Pramuka Island which has good potential to be developed into a tourist attraction," he said.

Local people used the governor's visit to air complaints that small-scale fishermen were losing out to large-scale vessels with sophisticated fishing equipment.

They appealed to the governor to do more to protect them and to introduce navy fishery patrols in the area.

They claimed large-scale fishermen often ignored government regulations that forbade them from operating within seven miles of the coastline, an area reserved for small-scale fishermen.

Sutiyoso promised to look into the matter.

He suggested the islanders also try to improve productivity through aquaculture and mariculture ventures.

The governor promised the administration would help the fishermen by providing modern fishing equipment.

Head of the city fisheries agency, M. Rahardjo, said that Thousand Island fishermen only caught 10 percent of Jakarta's daily fish consumption of 400 tons.

"They could catch more if they improved their productivity," he said. (ind)