"In the beginning, there was criticism against the project. I had to explain it to the public," Minister Fadel said in a teleconference and discussion on the Indonesia-US Oceanic Expedition in Washington DC on Thursday.
He said the critics claimed the joint deep-see exploration program would mean revealing Indonesia`s ocean data and contents to the US.
However, Fadel said, the criticism was incorrect because the expedition was purely for scientific research purposes.
The joint expedition involved Indonesian scientists and the results did not only belong to one party, in fact they were disseminated to enrich the world`s scientific knowledge, he added.
Indonesia had gained much benefit from the expedition because now it did not have to start from "zero" when exploring its waters.
Fadel said he now even wanted to establish further cooperation in the research field with the US as his ministry had allocated an adequate budget for research activities.
US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel, when speaking in the discussion, said the Indonesia-US oceanic expedition was a project under the new comprehensive partnership agreement signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Barack Obama.
The agreement was implemented in the joint exploration between Indonesia and the US in Sulawesi waters to discover new marine species, to map the ocean floor and to boost cooperation between the two countries.
The live broadcast teleconference also presented Indonesian Ambassador to the US Dino Patti Djalal and NOAA Administrator Dr Jane Lubchenko in Washington DC, the USA, as speakers in the discussion.
Ambassador Dino Patti Djalal said the scientific collaboration between Indonesia and the US needed to be intensified as it would bring many benefits to the world.
He added the future of Indonesia was in the hands of those with scientific literacy.
Dr Jane Lubchenka, meanwhile said, the joint exploration carried out in the June-August 2010 period was conducted to explore an uncharted part of the Pacific Ocean with combined capacities of two countries.
(T.M040/F001/HAJM/P003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
