Coral countries agree on Indonesia for permanent CTI office
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post | Mon, 05/25/2009 9:56 PM
Coral countries have agreed that Indonesia will host the permanent office of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) andmanage funds provided by donors to protect coral in six member countries, a minister said.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said Monday that donors who had pledged to provide financial aids to CTI countries could not distribute the funds due to the absence of a secretariat.
“In principle, all CTI members, including Philippines, have agreed that Indonesia will host the permanent office. But we have yet to decide whether the office will be in Bali or Manado.”
"Hopefully, member countries will decide where to locate the secretariat by mid-June.”
Currently, the interim CTI secretariat office is in Jakarta.
The Philippines had earlier submitted its proposal for hosting the permanent office of the CTI.
Indonesia has pledged to contribute US$5 million, the Philippines promised $5 million, with Papua New Guinea and Malaysia pledging $2 million and $1 million, respectively.
From the donor countries, the United States committed $41.6 million and Australia said it would provide an initial $1.5 million. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the largest donor organization under the UN, has provided $63 million.
