Minister Proud Komodo Rated Among New World 7 Wonders

Palembang (Antara Bali) - Tourism Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said she was very proud that the Komodo National Park has been included in the provisional list of the New World 7 Wonders.

"We, of course, respond to it positively and are proud," she said here on Saturday.

Although the announcement was still provisional, she said, it had shown that in terms of the votes cast for Komodo,  the Indonesian people could be counted upon.

This was what had made the minister proud. It had shown that the Indonesian people were moved to participate in the campaign to have  the Komodo included in the New Seven Wonders of Nature list through an a on-line voting system.

"Indonesian people were moved and this proves they have a high sense of nationalism," she said.

The minister hoped the election of Komodo as one of the new seven wonders of nature would further boost the animal's image as one of the country's icons and the country's popularity in the world.

"Certainly, we at the ministry of tourism and creative economy,  have been , will be and are working to further develop the park which has already been recognized by UNESCO," she said.

Regarding the legal process that is on going with regard to the omission of the ministry of tourism as the official supporter of Komodo, Minister Mari declined to comment.

The Komodo National Park was put on the list of the new seven wonders through a vote done through e-mails and text messages to www.new7wonders. com.

The results of the vote were made known on the website of the New7Wonder Foundation at 2 am on Saturday.

According to the website, the official announcement of the results of the vote would  be made in early  2012.

Other sites in the world mentioned in the provisional New 7 Wonders list were the  Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Puerto Pricesa Underground River and Table Mountain.(*)