RI officials have personal vendetta: New7Wonders

The New7Wonders Foundation says recent attacks directed at the foundation and its campaign were fueled by the egos of several Indonesian officials.

Jean-Paul de la Fuente, the foundation's business development director said in a teleconference briefing on Friday that several disgruntled elements in the Indonesian government were making accusations about the New7Wonders Foundation out of “personal revenge”.

“The unhappy Indonesian governmental officials who are attacking us are the same people who didn’t behave correctly toward the New7Wonders in the past. As we know, the foundation had to change the Official Supporting Committee for Komodo National Park because of the behavior of these officials,” he said.

Earlier, the Culture and Tourism Ministry withdrew Komodo National Park’s bid in the New7Wonders competition, with former culture and tourism minister Jero Wacik accusing the foundation of being unprofessional and lacking transparency and credibility.

Sapta Nirwandar, the ministry’s tourism marketing director, said he had sent a letter to the foundation’s headquarters in Zurich, which was subsequently returned to the ministry office because the address was not known.

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has also appointed a legal firm in Zurich to provide legal advice in relation to a dispute with the New7Wonders Foundation.

Representing the ministry, noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis previously told The Jakarta Post that the government was aiming to question the legality of the foundation’s move to maintain the island’s nomination despite the government’s decision to revoke it.
De la Fuente said the appointment of such an expensive Swiss-based legal firm was unfortunate.

“It is unfortunate that some officials have used the state budget to support their revenge to attack us. They spend public money to hire a lawyer in the Switzerland, which is highly expensive, and to issue false accusations toward the foundation,” he said.
He added that state money would be better used for schools or hospitals in Indonesia.