Coremap Helps Improve Coral Management In Indonesia

Jakarta, April 8 (Antara) - The Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program, which has been implemented in several phases, has improved the coral management in Indonesia, according to the maritime affairs and fisheries ministry. "The program has managed to improved the rehabilitation and management of coral reefs in Indonesia," the ministry`s Director General of maritime, coastal area and small island management, Sudirman Saad, confirmed through a written statement on Monday. At present, the government has prepared an institutionalization phase of Coremap, which will be integrated with the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) programs. Coremap has also helped increase public awareness of the importance of coral reefs, and has encouraged people`s participation in the coral preservation efforts. Previously, an Indonesian NGO called Kiara (People`s Coalition for Fishery Justice, had criticized the plan to integrate Coremap-CTI programs. Kiara Secretary General Abdil Halim recently stated that the integrated Coremap-CTI project will increase Indonesia`s debts. The project will burden the nation financially because its funds worth US$47.38 million come from the World Bank, he pointed out. He added that the previous three phases of Coremap failed to improve the condition of the country`s coral reefs, and therefore the program should be terminated. The NGO activist cited the findings of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) that discovered a number of irregularities concerning the Coremap funding. According to BPK, the implementation of Coremap across several districts has not produced significant impact on the coral preservation nor on the socio-economic condition of the people living around Coremap areas. He claimed that Coremap`s accountability was lacking and the spending of its funds was inefficient with many irregularities. If the government stops the loan project, the state budget amounting to US$5.74 million (around Rp64.71 billion) that is allocated to co-finance the Coremap projects, could be spent to build at least 1.2 thousand houses for traditional fishermen, he asserted.