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strong>Dec. 12, Online

North Maluku Deputy Governor Muhammad Naser Thaib admitted on Friday that development programs in his province tended to neglect sea territories and focused on inland development. '€œAs a result, the infrastructure in our region can be enjoyed only by those living inland. Such facilities are only available on parts of the islands,'€ Nasir said in Ternate, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Your comments:

Some of the marine resources of the Maluku Sea have already been heavily over-exploited. This is the case with sharks and rays, turtles, and beches-de-mer (trepang). It is right to say that these resources have been '€œneglected'€.

However, they have not been neglected in the sense of being untapped. They have been neglected in the sense that they have not been managed, thus leading to their depletion. The North Maluku governor should be preoccupied by the protection of the surviving populations and not by more harmful exploitation of such vulnerable marine resources.

As to those resources that are not yet depleted, like small pelagic fishes, the objective should not be to '€œtap'€ them blindly, but to manage them carefully. But perhaps the North Maluku governor actually has another objective, which might be to say things that the new fisheries minister wants to hear.

Jan Karl