Govt approves plan to rent Tabuhan Island to Maldives investor

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 04/01/2010 12:04 PM

Minister of Marine Resources and Fisheries Fadel Muhammad has approved the Banyuwangi regental administration's plan to rent Tabuhan Island to Maldives investor PT Safari International Resort.

"A recommendation letter has been received by the Banyuwangi regent," head of the investment section of the administration's development planning agency Made Mahartha said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Thursday.

The 5.33-hectare island, which is located at Bengkak village in Wongsorejo district, will be developed into a marine tourist site to be equipped with lodging facilities.

The island, which is at the Bali straits water, is now vacant. Its surroundings is well-known for its beautiful coral reefs, Made said.

Made explained that according the proposal, PT Safari will rent the island for 30 years at a cost of Rp 100 billion.

Banyuwangi Regent Ratna Ani Lestari, he said, had set up a regional coordination team led by administration secretary Sukandi.

The team will be in charge of further deliberating the cooperation draft, which will cover, among others, obligations and responsibilities of the two sides, revenue sharing scheme and environmental insurance.

"This has been regulation in Government Regulation No. 50/2007 on regional cooperation implementation," Made said.

The plan to rent the island had earlier sparked pros and cons from environmental activists, who demanded that the Banyuwangi administration strictly watch out the cooperation implementation, especially the environment preservation.

Five countries studying disaster preparedness in West Sumatra

Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Five countries will send delegations to conduct a feasibility study on the disaster preparedness in Padang, West Sumatra, an activist said here on Saturday. 

The five countries which will send representatives to Padang are Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives, executive director of the Indonesian Tsunami Alert Community (Kogami), Patra Rina Dewi, said. 

She said that each country would send two representatives. The delegates will visit disaster preparedness centers and have interviews with the relevant parties on March 17-19, 2009. 

The foreign guests will also attend a regional seminar on "Building Model for Disaster Preparedness" which will be organized by the Kogami and in cooperation the UNESCO. 

Representatives from foreign institutions, such as the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the European Union will also take part in the seminar. 

The seminar will also involve the Padang-based University of Andalas, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the National Disaster Handling Body and the Disaster Alert Journalist Network. 

Dewi said that the seminar was partly organized in connection with the appointment by the government of the Padang city as an exemplary disaster preparedness region in Indonesia. 

Therefore, the seminar will discuss the way of Padang city in preparing its capacity and system in handling disasters, particularly tsunami and earthquakes, she said.