The 2010 Sail Indonesia, featuring the beauty of Maluku Province`s Banda Islands, would spend at least Rp40 billions, Director General of Marine Resources and Fishery Surveillance Aji Sularso said.
The funds came from the Maluku province`s budget and those of the marine and fishery ministry and coordinating ministry for social welfare, he said at the launching of “Sail Indonesia-Sail Banda” here Wednesday evening.
The fund totaling Rp12 billions (US$1=Rp9,420) that Maluku government had pledged would be used to provide needed facilities, he said.
According to Aji Sularso, the marine and fishery ministry, and the coordinating ministry for social welfare had respectively allocated Rp9.5 billion and more than Rp20 billion.
The funds would be used for supporting various events and financing social activities involving local people, and fueling the Indonesian navy`s hospital ship, KRI Dr.Suharso, he said.
Meanwhile Marine and Fishery Minister Fadel Muhammad said the Sail Banda was aimed at making Maluku capital of Ambon be eastern Indonesia`s main tourist gate and promoting the province`s potentials to the world.
This annual event was expected to attract foreign investors, including those of China, to the province in the future, said Muhammad, who is also chairman of Sail Banda`s national committee.
“Providing people in coastal areas with health services is also the objective of Sail Banda. That`s why, the social welfare minister will come to the targeted areas,” he said.
Sharing Muhammad`s views, Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Agung Laksono said the Sail Banda was also expected to boost eastern Indonesia`s economic development.
“By promoting the natural, cultural and historical heritages that the areas have, we push the growth of tourism industry in eastern Indonesia,” he said.
In another development, the Sail Indonesia-Sail Banda committee`s official website has said that more than 220 information update brochures had been sent to all yachts, which had been interested in joining this event.
Last year, Sail Indonesia-Sail Bunaken was participated in by about 133 yachts from dozens of countries around the world.
Over the past years, the participating international yachts started sailing to the Indonesian waters from Darwin, the capital of Australian state of Northern Territory.
This year, as explained in the committee`s official website, the first destination was Banda, 500 miles north of Darwin to participate in a series of events that would be held in Maluku and its capital city Ambon.
The participating skippers are scheduled to leave Darwin on July 24 at 11 am for Banda Sail. They are welcomed with a series of cultural festivals at the different stopovers across Indonesia on the islands of Timor, Banda, Ambon, Buton, Lembata, Wakatobi, Flores, Sulawesi, Bali, Java, Borneo, Belitung and finally on to Batam or Bintan just south of Singapore.
The peak event of “Sail Banda” is scheduled on August 3. Banda is famous for the beauty and richness of its deep sea, cultural heritage and historical remains.
Source: Antara
