Plastic Waste Threatens Indonesian Tourism Industry,says Minister
23 February 2017 13:42 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, stated that the continuously increasing plastic waste threatens to ruin Indonesia’s tourism sector. That is the reason why State Officials continues to intensively educate society about the importance in maintaining and preserving the
environment.
“Education is important [since by doing that] we can inform the public about the negative effects it has to our environment, especially our oceans, if it’s not managed the right way,” Luhut said during the 2017 World Ocean Summit held in Bali, on Thursday, February 23, 2017.
In his official statement, Luhut elaborated the dangers of plastic wastes for marine animals, sea birds, and coral reefs. “Local residents will feel the negative effects of tourists that refuse to return to waste filled tourist destinations.”
In order to prevent that, State Officials are determined to reduce the number of plastic wastes up to 70 percent by the year 2025. There will be a number of strategies and concrete plans to reduce the number of plastic waste, either if it’s on land or sea.
According to Luhut, the government is willing to spend up to US$ 1 billion yearly in order to materialize the strategies, which will be a significant contribution for the realization of the national program of ‘Waste Free Indonesia’.
ANGELINA ANJAR SAWITRI