Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite & Amir Tejo, January 22, 2014
After years of dispute over the management of Surabaya Zoo, the central government on Tuesday said it would officially hand full authority of the controversial zoo to Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, ensuring substantial changes in its operations and its treatment of animals.
 |
| A young girl looks at a Sumatran Tiger at Surabaya Zoo in Surabaya, East Java, on Jan. 11, 2014. (EPA Photo/Fully Handoko) |
After years of dispute over the management of Surabaya Zoo, the central government on Tuesday said it would officially hand full authority of the controversial zoo to Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, ensuring substantial changes in its operations and its treatment of animals.
“This
definitive license will be given to the mayor this week,” Forestry Minister
Zulkifli Hasan said following a meeting with Rismaharini and President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono.
The
Surabaya Zoo is Indonesia’s oldest zoo and was held the widest collection of
animals in Southeast Asia, with 351 species in its care. Zulkifli conceded that
management problems had long been an issue, with dispute over control of the
zoo dating back to the 1980s.
In July
last year, the city administration unilaterally took over the running of the
zoo from a temporary management team that was appointed in February 2010 by the
Forestry Ministry following the disappearance and suspicious deaths of several
animals.
Rismaharini,
in justifying the takeover at the time, claimed that the caretaker team had
done little to stanch the spate of animal deaths and that its plan to invite
private investors to help in managing the zoo was a ruse to demolish it and
build a hotel on the city-owned land.
Zulkifli
said that the under the city’s care, the zoo’s management would be replaced
with new individuals with no conflicting interests.
“The
management will oversee the maintenance of animal pens and their food, among
other things. There will also be an audit in a partnership between the mayor
and Airlangga University on the issue of animal overpopulation,” he said.
He added
that if audit results concluded that the zoo had more animals than it could
adequately care for, the government would transfer some of the animals to other
zoos and conservation facilities — a policy that the caretaker team had put
into place since 2010, but which Rismaharini claimed was a guise for selling
the animals on the black market.
“The
president has called for a solution to avoid more animal deaths,” Zulkifli
said.
Tuesday’s
meeting was also attended by East Java Governor Soekarwo and Environment
Minister Balthasar Kambuaya.
During the
meeting, Yudhoyono said he had received plenty of reports from the public about
the poor conditions in which animals at the zoo were kept.
“They
reminded me that the deaths in Surabaya Zoo had become the focus of the
international community and feared that such an issue would give outsiders the
impression that we don’t care about our zoos,” he said.
“Let’s find
the best solution, and when it has been formulated, explain it to the public.
Of course we will not forget the events that have occurred. There is always a
way out or a solution.”
Soekarwo
expressed appreciation for the government’s decision to officially hand control
of the zoo to the city, which has been the de facto operator since July, but
emphasized that improvements would take time.
“This is no
magic trick, it’s a long process. That is why we need to wait,” he said, adding
that he hoped the zoo’s new management would be able to provide a better
environment for the animals.
Tuesday’s
decision was also welcomed by Wayan Titib Sulaksana, a former official at the
zoo.
“We were
always in support of having the city administration take over the zoo,” said
Titib, who is also a lecturer at Airlangga University’s law school.
He
suggested that the mayor order the zoo’s employees — some of whom were retained
from the different regimes that ran the zoo — to work together for the
betterment of the zoo and set aside any rivalries.
Titib said
Surabaya Zoo should also reorganize its hiring system to bring in fresh
officials without prejudiced views about the running of the zoo.
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment