Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan took strong action regarding accusations by foreign parties who dared to judge that Indonesia does not care about the environment.
Coordinating Minister Luhut emphasized that the implementation of the ‘Segara Kerthi’ ceremony in Bali is a manifestation of Indonesia’s commitment to protecting nature.
“Some foreigners think we (Indonesia) don’t care about the environment,” said Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan when giving a speech at the Segara Kerthi ceremony which was held in Bali, Saturday (18/5/2024).
Luhut confirmed that the implementation of the Segara Kerthi ceremony as part of the 10th World Water Forum was a concrete action of Indonesia’s commitment to protecting nature, especially water.
He emphasized that through holding this ceremony, the world can see how Indonesian culture, especially Bali, pays attention to the environment, cares about climate change, and really respects nature.
“So, we are showing it to the outside community, not only by talking, but also through the rituals that you are witnessing right now,” he stressed.
Therefore, Luhut said that the purpose of the ceremony was as proof that the community always strives to care for nature in order to maintain the condition and quality of water.
“It is important for the Balinese people to take part in protecting water sources,” said Luhut.
The Segara Kerthi ceremony aims to ask for grace so that the sea as one of the water sources is clean at all times and noetics (visible and invisible)
The ritual started at around 15:00 WITA, led by four Sulinggih (Hindu priests/religious leaders).
Apart from glorifying water, the religious ceremony is also combined with the Tumpek Uye ritual or the ceremony to glorify animals which falls on this Saturday according to the Balinese calendar.
For this reason, the delegation plans to also be invited to release 1,000 hatchlings, 1,000 birds and 5 turtles.
Apart from that, in the series of ceremonies there were also group prayers and performances of six sacred Balinese dances, namely the Panasar Mask Dance, Sang Hyang Jaran, Sang Hyang Dedari, Baris Cerkuak, Rejang Putri Maya, and Sidikarya Mask Dance.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan met SpaceX Boss, Elon Musk to contribute to mangrove rehabilitation.
Luhut has also invited Elon Musk to contribute starting from attending the groundbreaking of the Mangrove Research Center in Bali.
The meeting between Elon Musk and Luhut took place in the morning, Sunday (19/5/2024) when the SpaceX boss came to Bali.
“Another issue I discussed was regarding mangroves. “I said you always talk about rockets and so on, but you should also talk about climate change, one of the issues is mangroves,” said Luhut, Sunday.
He said Indonesia has a mangrove ecosystem rehabilitation program in an area of 600 thousand hectares spread across various regions in the country.
Replanting has been carried out on 200 thousand hectares of land for the first stage, a process that is still ongoing today.
Responding to this, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries then invited the SpaceX boss to join in laying the first stone for the construction of the International Mangrove Research Center (IMRC) in the Kura-Kura SEZ which will be carried out by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) today.
“I think this is very important on the issue of climate change and we can do a lot together and I am very happy that KEK is also working closely to facilitate it,” said Luhut.
Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan invited Elon Musk to contribute to mangrove rehabilitation efforts in Indonesia, starting from attending the groundbreaking of the Mangrove Research Center in Bali.
Speaking when opening the Tri Hita Karana – World Economic Forum in the Kura-Kura Special Economic Zone (KEK), Bali, Sunday (19/5/2024), Coordinating Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said that the invitation to come to the Mangrove Research Center launch event was to Elon Musk when he met him this morning.
Luhut and Elon Musk discussed the launch of the Starship rocket where the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries offered a launch pad for SpaceX’s rocket in Biak, Papua.
“I said you always talk about rockets and so on, but you should also talk about climate change, one of the issues is mangroves,” he added.