Aru Islands District in Maluku Province is truly a collection of forgotten islands, located just north of the Australian continent.
Enu is virtually inaccessible but is home to numerous stunning beaches with fringing reefs and green turtles.
The district has a lot of other small islands on which very few people have set foot, but a unique experience is guaranteed as one may discover the forgotten islet of Enu.
Enu has beautiful, casuariana-lined white sandy beaches, decent coral reefs that are good for snorkeling when the seas are calm, and a lighthouse visitors can climb for some sweeping views.
The interior is bushy, much of it is taken up by a swampy lake that is home to crocodiles, in addition to megapodes or mound birds, and monitor lizards.
Tgis is the reason why the charm of green turtle tourism on the islet of Enu has been offered to investors to develop.
Aru Islands Regional Development Planning Board spokesman Arens Uniplaitta said in the provincial city of Ambon on Thursday that Enu islet was geographically very close to Australia.
"Investors who want to have a permit to manage the Enu islet resort, one of eight outlying islands in Aru, will be handled easily, quickly and cheaply," Arens said.
He said seven other outermost islands were Ararkula, Karaweira, Penambulai, North Kultubai, South Kultubai, Karang, and Batu Goyang with potential economic value of natural resources but has yet to be developed optimally.
"An unidentified New Zealanders in 2009 was reported to have illegally entered the uninhabited island of Enu and built a holiday villa there but was then demolished by the residents of other islands," Arens said.
Since then the Aru Islands district administration has intensified patrol of its outlying islands in Southeast Maluku in a bid to prevent intruders from illegally entering the area.
The routine patrols at the time were conducted jointly with the local marine resources and fishery office with the support from the Indonesian military personnel.
Located bordering Australian waters in the southernmost part of the district, the islet with a total area of 14.95 square kilometers is dominated by mangrove forests, untouched pristine beaches, and a large turtle population.
Aru district head Teddy Tengko, now temporarily suspended for alleged corruption case, has said local people were prohibited from taking turtle eggs from Enu so nobody dared to go there.
Because of limited capacity of patrol in the past, Enu islet was used by foreigners who freely entered and built a villa there.
The ability to patrol the small islands in the district is hindered by the lack of infrastructure and the fact that the lands are located far away from each other.
Meanwhile, Arens said the outer islands in Aru have very limited infrastructure and transportation facility and thus it took a long way to go from one island to another.
Therefore the central government is expected to pay more attention to the condition of outlying islands in Maluku, especially in Aru, Southeast and southwest Maluku districts.
In an effort to prevent Enu islet from being claimed by foreign party, the charm of green turtle tourism there has been offered to investors who could turn it into a marine tourism destination are in Aru.
He said Enu islet was unique because the turtle lay eggs during the day instead of at night time.
Enu has long reputation as the richest turtle nesting ground in Maluku province and is supposed to be the most precious island of the marine reserve for this reason.
It was said that in the past a Dutch woman used to live on the islet and patrolled it at night to ensure that the nesting turtles and their eggs survived largely unharmed.
But Arens said that since the Dutch woman left the island, things have deteriorated sharply and these days the turtles are illegally captured on the beaches at night and even further out at sea and sold in another place, especially Bali.
"So, if the investors are interested in managing it, Aru Island District government will be ready to facilitate them, even to give them incentive to build infrastructure facility there," Arens said.
He said Enu islet has yet to have public facility, and to get there it would take 8 to 10 hours by speedboat from the Aru district town of Dobo.
It is a real fact that most closely-packed outer islands in Aru Islands District are actually quite similar in terms of scenery, flora, fauna, and culture, making it difficult to recommend one over the other.
Cassowries, palm and sulphur-crested cockatoos, greater and king birds of paradise as well as numerous species of parrots can all be seen in the islands of Aru.
But illegal hunting is still rampant there, the rare birds and numerous species of parrots are feared to extinct sooner or later if nothing is immediately done about it.
Therefore, Arens expressed hope that investors would be attracted to develop Enu and even the other small islands in Aru district for the prosperity of the local community. (*)
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Reporter: Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
