Gov't to Spend Rp 6.5t to Clean up Labuan Bajo Waters
Jakarta. The Indonesian government is taking up measures to clean its waters from debris, with priority given to resort area Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara.
Labuan Bajo has been designated as the “new Bali” among nine other tourist destinations, but its coasts have been plagued with litter problems over the years.
“We will focus on Labuan Bajo that produces eight to 12 tons of litter per day, and for this program we will allocate Rp 6.5 trillion ($463 million) from our 2020 budget,” Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo said in Jakarta on Thursday.
Labuan Bajo also serves as the entrance of popular tourist attraction Komodo National Park, home to thousands of world’s largest lizard Komodo dragons.
Edhy said the governance framework on marine debris prevention will include the Environment and Forestry Ministry, the Transportation Ministry, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
“We have requested LIPI to study if the marine debris has been actually flushed through rivers that end up in our seas,” Edhy said.
Apart from the cleaning works, the inter-ministerial program also seeks to educate people against littering the oceans and urges restrictions on the use of plastics.
“The central and regional governments have started the efforts to reduce the use of plastic and we encourage every stakeholder to do the same. Education is a crucial part of our effort to keep 270 million Indonesians from contributing to marine litter,” Edhy said.
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