A seminar to discuss joint efforts in developing the province as well as conserving the giant lizards will start the committee’s struggle to fulfill its promise during its campaign for Komodo Dragon Park’s bid in the competition organized by the Switzerland-based New7Wonders Foundation.

“A seminar will take place next week to discuss what we must do next following the announcement. We will engage different stakeholders, such as the government, activists as well as entrepreneurs, to participate in developing future plans for Komodo Island and East Nusa Tenggara,” Ambassador to Komodo Island, former vice president Jusuf Kalla, said, adding that Komodo’s victory was proof that Indonesia could unite for a common goal that could benefit the country.

“We thank the estimated 40 million Indonesians who participated in the voting. Please do remember that Komodo Park does not belong to P2Komodo or to the people of East Nusa Tenggara. All of us are responsible for develop it,” he said.

Emmy Hafild, who chairs P2Komodo, said that at least five companies had expressed interest in supporting the committee to fulfill its commitment to implementing sustainable development in East Nusa Tenggara. “We have lobbied companies, especially their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) divisions to support us for future plans,” Emmy told reporters on Saturday evening during a press briefing following the announcement of Komodo Park’s victory at a café in Central Jakarta, where businessmen Arifin Panigoro and Sofyan Wanandi were also seen.

Emmy added that P2Komodo would soon disperse after a declaration of a ceremony to celebrate the park’s stauts in the competition.

“PALI will continue its endeavors,” she said, referring to Perkumpulan Alam Lestari Indonesia, an NGO that promotes environmental preservation in Indonesia. Some members of P2Komodo are also members of PALI.

The New7Wonders Foundation announced on Saturday at 2 a.m. Jakarta time that Indonesia’s Komodo Dragon Park was among the top seven finalists of the first global count.

The other six finalists are the Amazon Rainforest in South America, Halong Bay in Vietnam, and Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazilian state of Parana and Argentine province of Misiones, Jeju Island in Korea, Puerto Princesa Underground River in the Philippines and Table Mountain in South Africa.

New7Wonders president and founder Bernard Weber said in a statement that the result still needed to be confirmed through its voting validation and independent verification process that would take place in the coming weeks. “In an extreme situation, which at the moment we do not expect, the verification process could result in a wonder being disqualified and being replaced with the next-ranked finalist,” he said.

Emmy of P2Komodo said there were requirements the committee should fulfill and were confidential. “Some of them are the secrecy of total votes for Komodo Park and financial arrangements between the committee and the New7Wonders Foundation,” she said, refusing to elaborate further.

Despite excitement over Komodo’s victory, the competition is still riddled with controversy, with some local bloggers saying that the organizer of the competition was a dubious private institution seeking to profit from the country’s nationalist sentiments, but the hype is still on for Komodo supporters.

East Nusa Tenggara residents welcome the park’s victory. “We must prepare ourselves because the province is already included in the Acceleration and Economic Expansion Development (MP3EI) master plan to boost the national tourism,” East Nusa Tenggara Governor Frans Lebu Raya said.

The governor proclaimed year 2013 to be planned as the Sail Komodo year. Vice governor Esthon Foenay said that the people of East Nusa Tenggara should be given the chance to benefit from development taking place on Komodo Island. (msa)

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