Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
March 3, 2014
Massive jade boulder found in Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — An enormous jade boulder that could weigh up to
50 tons was found half buried in restive northern Myanmar (also known as
Burma), and the government has sent troops to protect it, according to a state
minister. The raw jade was discovered recently by villages and small-scale
miners in the gem-rich region of Hpakant, but since it’s still half buried, it’s
impossible to know its exact size, said Lajun Ngan Seng, the minister of
resource-rich Kachin state. He said authorities believe it may be 18 feet wide
and weigh up to 50 tons. “It’s being guarded by soldiers,” the minister said,
adding that after it is completely unearthed, “We’ll decide what to do with it.”
Myanmar is one of the world’s biggest producers of jade, most found in the
conflict-torn mountains of Kachin, where ethnic rebels have been fighting the
government for more than half a century. The vast majority of the gemstones,
considered to be of the highest quality, are smuggled over the border to China.
China dispatches pollution inspectors amid bad air
BEIJING (AP) — China says it has sent inspectors to Beijing and other areas
of the country to inspect polluting industries and check construction sites amid a
spell of severe air pollution. The environment ministry said teams have been
dispatched to inspect steel, coal, glass, and cement factories and review the local
governments’ responses to the bad air. The official Xinhua News Agency said
almost all provinces in central and east China have had serious air pollution
recently, and that Beijing and five provinces in northern and eastern China have
reported “severe smog.”
Indonesian volcano brings life as well as death
SIDOMULYO, Indonesia (AP) — The ash and debris that Indonesia’s Mount
Kelud blasted from its belly brought death and misery, and disrupted
international air traffic. But for many of the millions of people cleaning up in the
wake of the explosive eruption, it was also a money earner and a shot of life for
their crops. “This is a blessing of the disaster,” said Imam Choiri, a farmer who
was scraping up the ash from the road to use as fertilizer on his small vegetable
plot a few kilometers from the crater of the rumbling mountain. Choiri said
locals believe the ash helps drive away pests from crops. The eruption of the
5,680-foot-high mountain on Java island was one of the most dramatic to hit
Indonesia in recent years, with ash falling as far as 370 miles away. Four people,
including a 97-year-old woman, were killed when the roofs of their homes caved
in under the weight of ash. More than 100,000 people were evacuated to
temporary shelters.
Hong Kong Disneyland turns profit for second year
HONG KONG (AP) — Turning a page on years of losses, Hong Kong
Disneyland said it was profitable for a second straight year and plans to build a
third hotel to help cater to rising numbers of visitors. The theme park in the
southern Chinese city more than doubled its profit to 242 million Hong Kong
dollars ($31 million) in the year through September. Revenue climbed 15
percent to HK$4.9 billion as the number of visitors increased 10 percent to a high
of 7.4 million. The park had struggled after opening in 2005, with its poor
performance blamed on its small size. But it became profitable in 2012 thanks to
new attractions that drew more visitors, especially from mainland China.
Officials announced plans to build a 750-room resort-hotel that will cost HK$4.3
billion and is expected to open by early 2017. The new hotel will raise total room
capacity by three-quarters to 1,750. The Hong Kong government owns 52
percent of the park, with the Walt Disney Co. owning the rest. It’s still the
smallest of Disney’s parks worldwide, but an expansion project completed last
year added 25 percent to its size.
Cambodia cracks down on e-cigarettes, shisha
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia has banned the import, sale,
and promotion of e-cigarettes and shisha tobacco, a favorite of hookah-using
smokers. The Cambodian Anti-Drug Authority said in a statement that
electronic cigarettes, which emit a water vapor containing nicotine, and shisha,
flavored tobacco smoked through a water pipe, have been imported in increasing
quantities recently and become popular with young people. Smoking shisha has
become a popular social activity worldwide in recent years, and more than a
dozen shisha lounges have opened in Phnom Penh in the past year or so. The
statement described e-cigarettes and shisha as drugs that are a major problem
affecting young people’s studies and work.
Asylum seekers injured at Papua New Guinea
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Several asylum seekers were seriously
injured during a breakout from an immigration detention camp run by Australia
on the South Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea, according to an official.
The violence at the camp on Manus Island followed a less serious brawl at the
same facility a day earlier that led to the arrests of eight asylum seekers and
another 19 being treated for injuries, Australian immigration minister Scott
Morrison said. No one sustained life-threatening injuries in the violence. The
Australian government has warned asylum seekers who attempt to reach
Australia by boat that they will never make it to their destination. They are
intercepted at sea and sent to detention camps at Manus Island or the tiny
Pacific atoll nation of Nauru. The hardline policy appears to be working, with no
asylum seeker boat reaching an Australian shore by boat since December 18,
2013.
RAY OF HOPE. A manta ray swims in the water off Raja Ampat islands in Indonesia in this file photo. Indonesia is now
the world’s largest sanctuary for manta rays, after officials were persuaded by evidence that the gentle giants known for de-
lighting tourists are worth more alive than dead. The government recently announced that manta rays within the archipel-
ago’s 2.2 million square miles of ocean will be protected from fishing and export. It will take time and cooperation at
multiple levels to enforce the ban on poaching in the biggest global shark and ray fishery. (AP Photo/Herman Harsoyo,
File)
Indonesia hopes to cash
in on manta ray tourism
By Margie Mason
The Associated Press
AKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia is
now the world’s largest sanctuary for
manta rays, after officials were
persuaded by evidence that the gentle giants
known for delighting tourists are worth more
alive than dead.
The government recently announced that
manta rays within the archipelago’s 2.2
million square miles of ocean will be protected
from fishing and export. It will take time and
cooperation at multiple levels to enforce the
ban on poaching in the biggest global shark
and ray fishery.
Conservationists point to simple economics
as an incentive. According to a study published
last year in the online journal PLoS One, a
manta ray is worth up to $1 million over the
course of its long lifetime, thanks to tourists
willing to pay generously for a chance to swim
with the curious creatures that glide
gracefully through the water by flapping their
wide wings, almost as if flying.
They are worth only $40 to $500 dead.
Government officials were “so surprised
that the tourism value is very high. That’s a
very powerful argument,” said Tiene
Gunawan, marine program director at Con-
servation International Indonesia. “Indonesia
is such a big, big, big country. When looking at
the size of the water, it’s huge. And I think we
should start small and make some kind of pilot
for this enforcement.”
J
The regulation was passed January 28.
Conservation groups are working to teach
fishermen about the value of keeping the
mantas alive, while business people, the
military, water police, and local officials are
being engaged to assist.
“There are more than 200 special policemen
who have been prepared to guard conservation
areas and to enforce the law on protection of
this species,” Sudirman Saad, director general
for marine, coastal, and small islands, said at a
news conference announcing the protections.
He said the government will encourage
fishermen affected by the ban to take
advantage of manta ray tourism.
In some areas, including a well-known spot
near the resort island of Bali, locals are
already seeing profits from taking snorkellers
out on their fishing boats, or working at larger
dive resorts where mantas are a top attraction.
In Indonesia alone, manta tourism brings in
an estimated $15 million each year, according
to the PLoS One report.
“Indonesia now has the second-largest
manta ray tourism industry in the world,”
Agus Dermawan, director of the country’s
Marine Conservation Directorate, said in a
statement. “Given the huge area of reefs and
islands in our country, if managed properly,
Indonesia could become the top manta tourism
destination on the planet.”
Two types of rays exist in Indonesia, the
manta and the mobula. Both are killed for
their plankton-filtering gills, which are used
Continued on page 5
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77.715
3980.0
6.1451
1.8727
7.7612
61.758
11610
24768
101.9
8031.0
3.227
98.757
104.92
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1067.6
130.74
30.322
32.647
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