W

hen the government fails, the people will take the lead. This is evident in Komodo Dragon National Park’s bid to win a global vote run by a popular tourism website.

In an attempt to develop tourism, the government registered the park in a competition to be named one of the “New7Wonders of Nature”.

The government subsequently abandoned its support for Komodo’s bid due to a spat with the competition’s organizer, the Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation.

Disappointed with the decision, a group of environmental activists established the Support Committee for Komodo Island (P2Komodo) to continue promoting the bid.

P2Komodo has registered as Komodo park’s official campaign manager and lobbied the foundation to keep the nomination.

The committee has embraced public figures, including former vice president Jusuf Kalla and the rock band Slank, to encourage the public to vote for the park, located on Komodo Island in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

“The komodo dragons are a world wonder whose original habitat is on the island. [The island’s] nomination in the competition is necessary,” Emmy Hafild, the noted environment activist who initiated P2Komodo, said.

Emmy said that if Komodo won, it might be developed as a natural tourist site, as opposed to the commerical tourist industry of Bali.

Kalla has been actively promoting Komodo, asking the public to vote for the park by sending a text message to 9818.

His call reinvigorated support for the bid, prompting people to encourage others to vote for the park through online forums and chat rooms.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono echoed Kalla’s plea. “Let’s all type KOMODO and send it to 9818,” Yudhoyono said recently during the launch of Lombok’s new international airport.

The pleas have apparently worked. With only two weeks remaining until the results are announced, some people said they could not stop voting for the park.

A young writer in Jakarta, Akhmad Kusairi, said that participating in the online vote would be his contribution to Indonesia.

“Komodo Island will bring more investment to Indonesia if it is chosen as one of the world’s new seven wonders. Its name will be heard everywhere around the world. People will want to come to the island to witness it. The government, hopefully, will set aside more funds to develop East Nusa Tenggara to accommodate curious visitors,” he said.

Kusairi, who claims to have voted by text message more than 100 times in the last two weeks, said that the public call to vote for Komodo was a test of the national pride of Indonesian citizens.

“Are we willing to share our money and time to send the messages to help Indonesia become better known in the world? That’s the question,” he said.

Nina Jermania, a student in Bandung, West Java, said that her love for the country motivated her to keep voting by text messages to support Komodo as one of the world’s wonders.

“Komodo [dragons] are indeed is a world wonder. It is an endangered animal, and only lives in Indonesia,” she said.

Nina said she has sent 20 text messages a day since Oct. 13.

“I only know about Komodo from books and television. I will be able to see the creatures myself if they are chosen by the committee as a world wonder because the government will develop infrastructure to help people reach the island. More improved infrastructure, such as transportation, to Komodo Island will make it affordable. That’s my dream,” she said.

Sociologist Thamrin Ama Tomagola attributed growing public support for Komodo Island to public faith in the island’s tourism ambassador, Jusuf Kalla.

“People know that Kalla is a hands-on type of person and is fully committed to anything he deals with. The public also expects Kalla to continuously campaign for Komodo after it is chosen as one of the world’s wonders,” he said. (msa)