Indonesia joins Maldives in withdrawing from New7Wonders competition
20 Aug 2011, 4:14 PM
Following in the footsteps of the Maldives, Indonesia has officially withdrawn the Komodo National Park from the New7Wonders competition citing doubts about the credibility of the organisers.
During a press conference last week, Indonesia’s Tourism Minister Jero Wacik announced that the decision was taken “because the organisers – the New7Wonders Foundation – have taken actions that are not professional, consistent and transparent.”
According to reports in the Jakarta Post, Wacik said the New7Wonders Foundation was“unprofessional”, “unaccountable” and were “not credible”.
“We have spent around Rp 10 billion (US$1.1 million) on campaign activities over the past three years,” Wacik told the newspaper, claiming that the foundation had subsequently demanded a US$10 million licensing fee and a US$35 million fee to host a ceremony celebrating the competition’s winners.
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