BANGKA - To support the development of underwater tourism on Putri Island, PT TIMAH Tbk has again submerged the Coral Garden in the Putri Island area, Penyesuk Village, Bukit Ketok Village, Belinyu District, Bangka Regency. Monday (31/10/2022).
The sinking of the coral garden is a follow-up program carried out by the company. In this sinking, PT TIMAH Tbk involved fishermen, academics, and the community.
Lecturer of Marine Science at Bangka Belitung University, Indra Ambalika Syari, said that the coral garden program carried out by PT TIMAH Tbk could become an underwater tourist attraction.
“Especially in Putri Island, we use corals from the coral transplantation garden carried out by PT TIMAH's marine reclamation program. So don't take corals from nature, of course, this doesn't damage natural corals," said Indra.
According to Indra, his party does not only sink the coral garden but also monitors the growth of the corals that have been sunk.
He said that in the first phase of sinking the coral garden, the success rate reached 85 percent. For this reason, his party replaces the damaged corals so that they remain beautiful to support underwater tourist attractions.
“For this activity, of course, monitoring activities will also be carried out, with the aim that the corals that we have planted can grow and develop. And if something dies, we will replace it with a new one," he said.
He considered that the efforts to sink the coral gardens carried out by PT TIMAH Tbk were an effort to protect the marine ecosystem. In addition, it also has an impact on encouraging the tourism and fisheries sector in the region.
"We hope that PT Timah will pay more attention to the marine ecosystem. With a program like this, it can be an example for other mining companies, both in Bangka Belitung and in Indonesia," he said.
"Hopefully this program can continue and can be carried out in other locations that have tourist attractions and potential. So this program can become a synergy between mining and tourism," he continued.
One of the fishermen involved in the coral garden activity, Supriyanto (50) who is a member of the Sinar Penyesuk Group, said he felt the benefits of this program because it could provide new jobs to increase income.
Supriyanto said he sometimes turns out to be a guide for tourists visiting Putri Island. He revealed that in one day his income could reach 600-700 thousand when taking tourists.
"With a program like this, we hope to increase tourist visits to Putri Island, because with a program like this, of course, it will add spots for snorkeling tourists," he said.
He hopes that the coral garden program can continue so that with more and more types and forms of coral, it will certainly become an attractive spot for tourists.
"In addition, we fishermen can make this a side job when we are not going to sea," said Supriyanto.
He said that they were invited to be involved in the process of making, sinking, to monitoring so that they could gain new experience and knowledge in carrying out coral transplantation.
"This program is good because of course for coral growth, of course, this will also increase income for the surrounding community, because this activity will attract tourists to visit Putri Island," he said.
Meanwhile, the Belinyu sub-district head, Lingga Pranata, said that this program had an impact on the community's economy. The existence of this coral garden can increase the attractiveness of tourists to come to Putri Island intruders.
The reason is, this area is a complete package, namely beautiful natural panoramas and underwater tourism.
“Besides, we think this program is very good because it can provide jobs for our fishermen who are involved in this activity. This is a step to improve the tourism sector, which we know that Putri Island is one of the tourist destinations in Belinyu District, "said Lingga.
He hopes that this program can be continued. Because he feels the benefits of the programs carried out by PT TIMAH Tbk have been felt by the community.
"We are grateful to PT TIMAH Tbk for always presenting programs that are close to the community that is needed by the community," said Lingga.
