The ground breaking ceremony of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) Regional Secretariat office was held on Saturday, January 28, 2012 in Manado, North Sulawesi. The construction of the CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat compound is the realization of the 2009 Fifth Senior Official Meeting (SOM5) and Second Ministerial Meeting (MM2) resolutions where Indonesia was established as host of the CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat.

As part of the Government of Indonesia’s commitment to the CTI-CFF, it has allocated around US$ 5.5 million to support the Regional Secretariat office construction. It will be built on roughly 21,000 square meter of land  provided by the Provincial Government of North Sulawesi. The compound will consist of a five-story building for various offices as well as a six-story building which will have laboratories, library, aquarium, and other facilities for the public.

In line with Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono initiative, the Regional Secretariat office will be the center of coordination, facilitation and collaboration among the six countries and partners of CTI-CFF.  The office will manage daily operations and activities needed so the efforts to maintain the coastal, fisheries,  and marine resources in the regions are well-coordinated and effective. The construction stage is aimed to be completed in 14 months, in time for the formal inauguration of the permanent CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat in 2013.

The ceremony was attended by Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare, H.R. Agung Laksono, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Sharif C. Sutardjo, and Governor of North Sulawesi Province, Sinyo H. Sarundajang.  In his remark, Minister Agung Laksono hoped that with the physical existence of the CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat can be followed up with implementation of different activities from the six CTI member countries. Furthermore, Minister Sharif C. Sutarjo reiterated that, with more than 500 types of corals found in the regions, coral reefs play a crucial role in supporting sustainability of various marine resources. Also, Governor Sinyo H. Sarundajang mentioned that North Sulawesi, together with six other provinces in Indonesia (Nusa Tenggara Timor, Maluku, Maluku Utara, Bangka, Belitung, and Riau) are provinces that mainly consists of islands and hoped that the CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat will provide assistance and information so the people in the regions as well as the marine resources can support each other sustainably.

Photo Captions

Upper Right:  (L-R) Indonesia Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono, North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Sarundajang and Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Sutardjo at the ground breaking ceremony

Lower Left: Scale model of planned CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat building

Credits: MMAF Indonesia