Abraham Paul Liyanto, the local legislator, said here on Monday that the culture and tourism minister should have calculated the losses and benefits of the withdrawal.
"For instance, if (the Komodo National Park) is included in the seven top, what will be the impact on Indonesian tourism, in particular NTT," he said.
In fact, the culture and tourism minister himself once said the number of tourists had increased 400 percent, he added.
If the reason of the withdrawal was the high cost asked by the N7W foundation, the ministry should have first negotiated or looked for sponsorships to support the Komodo participation in the N7W contest, he said.
He stated that the government had paid US$600 for the registration and now the money had been wasted.
Abraham suggested that the NTT authorities, the community and NGOs take initiative to collect funds to help the ministry.
He also asked the minister to work full-heartedly in promoting Indonesia`s tourism, adding that the NTT tourism must also be developed, not only Bali`s tourism.
Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik, when announcing the decision here on Monday, accused the competition`s organizer, the New 7 Wonders (N7W) Foundation, of having been unprofessional, inconsistent and not transparent.
In August 2008, the ministry of tourism and culture became the official supporting committee (OSC)/Lead Agency to suppor the TNK to be selected as one of the new world`s seven wonders which is done through on-line voting.
In a further progress polemic emerged after the N7W Foundation expressed agreement early in December 2010 for Indonesia in this case Jakarta to become the official host for the Declaration of the new World 7 Wonders.
The committee however later required the Indonesian government to pay a license fee for being the host of the event totaling US$10 million and prepare another US$35 million to pay for the cost of the organization of the event. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
