Raja Ampat's deep-sea treasures

 

“It was fun,” 2006 Miss Universe runner up Kurara Chibana exclaimed after a three-day dive trip in Raja Ampat, Papua.

 

Deep-sea enthusiasts around the world agree Raja Ampat is a diving paradise, where beautiful coral reefs and exotic sea creatures can be spotted.

Coral reefs at Miskon diving site.

Giant clam, pygmy seahorse, nudibranch, coral fish, and tasseled wobbegong can all be seen amid the coral. If they’re lucky, divers can also spot whales.

 

Watching manta rays swimming with their “wings” spread out up close is the highlight of Raja Ampat. The Jakarta Post was invited by the marine and fishery ministry to Raja Ampat to see the activities being conducted in the second phase of coral reef rehabilitation and management (COREMAP II) in Papuan waters. 

 

Sites such as Batu Lima, Miskon, Chicken reef, Cape KRI and Manta Point are some of the most popular diving spots, drawing divers back to Raja Ampat time and again.

 

“I’ll come back next year for my vacation,” Kurara said. 

(Text and photos by Arief Suhardiman)

Inquiry Finds Ferry Operator Was Using Outdated Shipping Guidelines

Nilanjana Bhowmick - AHN News Writer, June 27, 2008 12:50 a.m. EST

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - Executives of the company that owned the ferry that capsized with more than 800 people aboard were called into a closed door meeting with the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) on Friday.

 

The inquiry began on Thursday to probe the reasons for the accident. On Friday, the board barred the media from the hearing and quizzed Sulpicio Lines vice president Edgar Go and his lawyer Arthur Lim inside the room.

 

On Thursday, the inquiry committee found that the guideline about sending ships sailing in bad weather that was being used by the ferry operator was out of date. It also came out that the crew had to contact Sulpicio officials through their cell phones as radio communication broke down during bad weather.

 

Meanwhile, divers are still struggling to retrieve bodies from inside the vessel.

 

Philippines coast guard officials said that more than 100 U.S. and Philippines divers are working away at retrieving the bodies. However, their work is being made difficult as most of the passageways are blocked with debris.

 

More than 850 passengers and crew were on board when the Princess of Stars, a seven-story ship, wrecked off the central island of Sibuyan on Sunday during Typhoon Fengshen. Only 56 people survived the accident.

N Sumatra needs hard work to restore mangrove forests

Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - North Sumatra province needs to work hard to restore its mangrove forests most of which have been converted into shrimp ponds and oil palm plantations in the past few years, an official said.

"I don`t know the exact figure but the area of damaged mangrove forests along the eastern coast of Sumatra island accounts for 70 percent of the total area and it takes at least five to eight years to restore them," Head of the North Sumatra Provincial Environmental Impact Management Board (Bappedalda) Prof Syamsul Arifin said on Saturday.

Efforts to restore the damaged mangrove forests were badly needed to conserve the environment, stem natural disasters such as flood and increase fishermen`s income, he said.

"The damaged mangrove forests have led to a decline in fish production as fish feed does not grow as expected," he said.

The restoration of damaged mangrove forests worked slowly due to a lack of full supports from all stakeholders, he said.

"Today, only the government and certain quarters have been serious about restoring the mangrove forests while in fact all sides must take equal responsibilities as the mangrove forests serve their common interests," he said.

Earlier, the Forum of Journalists Caring About Karo (FJPK) said an estimated 2.4 million hectares of land in North Sumatra were in critical condition and 1.3 million hectares of it must be rehabilitated soon because they had the potential of causing disasters.