THE VERDICT is out: Komodo National Park will stay on as an authorised New7Wonders of Nature finalist, but Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism will no longer be given Official Supporting Committee status for Komodo’s entry in the global poll, stripping the tourism authority’s rights to campaign for votes.
New7Wonders Foundation (N7W) president and founder Bernard Weber said: “The Ministry’s role should have been to support us and to lead the search for a solution to honour the legally binding contract for New7Wonders Official Host, signed in December 2010 with a leading Indonesian private consortium – a consortium endorsed by the Ministry in the first place.
Instead, they have reacted with malicious misinformation, invented financial commitments and prejudicial action to cover up for an apparent lack of moral responsibility and duty.”
Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik had earlier said the costs of hosting the official declaration ceremony was too high (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 7, 2011).
At a press conference yesterday, the minister added: “I don’t know what was said in the contract between the consortium and N7W, but if things don’t come out according to the contract, why should we be held responsible for it?”
The ministry also said it was ready to sue N7W for “acting overboard and illogically by linking the status of Komodo as a finalist and the offer to host the declaration of the winners”.
