SOUTH EAST SULAWESI ISLAND

By : sabry matasala

The Provinces is located on the foot of Sulawesi island and is divided into 10 districts and 2 municipalities.Each area has itsown specialty for tourists like nature, marine activities, andculture. There are four ethnic groups : Tolaki, Mekonga, Muna, and Buton. The area is devided into mainland area archipelago. Another attractive part is historical remains and cultural sites that are the second largest historical and cultural sites in Indonesia.

Kendari is the central govermment of south East Sulawesi with kendari Bay as a tourism icon. Kendari beach is always full of visitors, especially in the afternoon to enjoy the sunset. The bay is located in the heart of the city and has become an inseparatble part of kendari life. Most of the citizens spend their afternoon walking around the bay.

THE INCREDIBLE KENDARI BAY

The citizens must be very proud for having the bay that always interests many tourists who visit this capital city South East Sulawesi. The panorama of kendari bay can be enjoyed from every of the beach. The water is about 2.800 hectares in area and is connected to the banda sea with a narrow path. This path is the only way to access the bay, which has many facilities for marine activities, including resorts and water sports.

The view is more beautiful from the top of the hill in the gunung jati villageon the slopes of the Nipanipa Mountains. The name of gunung jati (teak mountain) refers to the topography of the area and the people, most of whom are from muna, the well – known teak producer in the south East Sulawesi.

From the heights , the bay looks like ice, clear and calm without waves. The beach is covered by mangrove threes that look like a green line around the beach. Unfortunately, the green line now looks like a broken line as a result of city development. Beyond the green line of mangrove trees, there are fishponds that are managed traditionally by the local people.

The next area is housing and other functional facilities with green jungle mountains in the background. The sign of life in Kendari Bay are the movements of boats of various shapes and styles. At night, the bay looks alive with lights coming from the boats and a few floating restaurants serving various seafood. The Bay needs management to become a tourist destination. Now, the tourism industry is beginning to grow. Hotels, villas, and other facilities to enjoy the view of kendari bay can be found in Gunung Jati, not only for tourists, but also for the local people.

The road to the village is now in very good condition as an effort from the local government to attract investors to the area. The main road that bisects the village is a half round road starting from Abunawas General Hospital to RRI (Republic of Indonesian Radio)radio station. According to the general plan of Kendari city, Gunung Jati village and other areas on the slopes of the Nipanipa mountains are planned for hotel and villas. The villagers and the investors are encouraged to perverse the forest and the ecosystem of the mountains.

THE NATIONAL HANDICRAFT LOCAL COUNCIL

Dekranasda (Dewan Kerajinan Nasional Daerah) or National Handicraft local council offers many kinds of handicrafts at reasonable prices. Tourists can choose accessories made from silver, oyster shell, pearl, traditional clothes, etc. Tourists can see the process of making accessories and other handicraft processes.

WAKATOBI NATIONAL MARINE PARK

The entrance gate for the tourists is Bali. The trip is about 2 hours with a DAS Eight aircraft with a 40 seat capacity. The price is high because it uses a chartered aircraft. In terms of administration, wakatobi is divided to 7 subdistricts, which are : wangi-wangi, south wangi-wangi, kaledupa, South Kaledupa, Tomia, East Tomia, Binongko and Togo Binongko subdistricts. Now wakatobi has 14 kelurahans (villages led by lurah in terms of administration) and 48 village.

Before Wakatobi became a new district, the archipelago that spread in the banda ocean was known as tukang besi (blacksmith) island. Even though the district was only 5 years old, the name Wakatobi was used by the government and the buton people. Wakatobi is the short name of 4 big island which are : Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko.

All areas of Wakatobi includedin National Parks have a total area of 1.390.000 Ha. The area is a National Park because it has the biggest variety of marine biodiversify in the world. There are 942 fish species and 750 of the 850 coral species in the world are found in this area

WAKOTOBI – RELIANCE ON CORAL

Wakatobi Reliance on coral in the triangle of world , which is visited by thousands or even millions divers from all around the world, 750 species of coral can be found in it. In Wakatobi marine park, 875 species of coral are found. According to Wallace’s development board, the coral is in habited by 600 species of fish.

The combination of fish, the ecosystem, and various types and shapesn of coral create beautiful and attractive underwater life in this 1.3 million hectare area.

Previously Wakatobi was part of the Buton district. During the autonomous period, the 4 islands in the tukang besi archipelago established a new district separate from the Buton district. About 90% of this new district is water. The water between the wakatobi island has magnificent underwater life with the best coral in the world. in 1990, the area was enstated as wakatobi National Marine Park. Because of the potential that they have, Wakatobi relies on tourism and the ocean as economic sources for now and into the future. Wakatobi people as marine people are able to use and manage the resources. Now, they are waiting for investor in fishery industry to make boats, fishery or transportation tools, construction of cold storage to process the fish for export.

As national marine park.Wakatobi has 1.3 million hectares of conservation area. The area is a coral ecosystem. According to Jacques Cousteau, a marine biologist from France, Wakatobi National Marine Park is the best ecosystem of coral in the world and is ideal for diving. A few businessmen have already build and managed a resort in the Marine Park area. For example, the Walacea Development Board – Jakarta that established a resort in Hoga Island, a small uninhabited island with white sand beaches located in front of Kaledupa island.

PT Wakatobi resort, led by Lerenz Mader from Switzerland, Has begun to manage the small Island Onemobaa in front of Tomia Island in the last a few years. The resort provides bungalos and diving tools. The company has an aircraft pad on Tomia Island. The airport is operated to bring the visitors to Onemombaa island from Europe and America using chartered aircraft.