Friday, September 3, 2010

Official upbeat about Sail Banda`s success

Ambon - A Sail Banda central committee official has expressed optimism the international maritime event to be held from July to August 2010 in Maluku will run successfully.

Aji Soelarso, the Sail Banda central committee`s first secretary who is also director general of marine and fisheries supervision at the marine and fisheries ministry, said the Maluku provincial administration was enthusiastic about the prospect of hosting the event and determined to make Sail Banda 2010 a success.

"I can testify that the governor, the local people, and students across Maluku province have a high spirit to make the international marine event a success," Aji Soelarso said in Ambon recently.

He said preparations made by the provincial administration to greet Sail Banda guests and participants were now 90 percent completed.

On the electricity problem about which the local people themselves had been complaining, Soelarso said he guaranteed it would be overcome in the runup to the the event.

"I think , Sail Bunaken in North Sulawesi last year was a warming up for Maluku to make even better preparations for Sail Banda 2010," Soelarso said.

Therefore he expressed hope that no protest rally against Sail Banda would happen anywhere in Maluku because such an international event was intended to promote the province`s potential and outlying small islands in the province.

"What we hope is that the people will not stage any protest rally. If they have suggestions and criticism, they can express it in a proper manner for the sake of our common progress," he said.

According to him, Sail Banda 2010 was designed in such away to make Maluku eastern Indonesian gateway for tourism and the province`s potentials for the local people`s welfare.

"All people of Maluku should give their contribution for our common good to make the event a success. It is not designed to make Maluku poor," Soelarso said.

He added that the Maluku provincial administration had allocated Rp12 billion from the regional budget (APBD) to fund the event, because the central government was not funding in cash but in the form of an infrastructure program.(*)

Source: http://www.antaranews.com