Padang's top newspaper has carried more articles covering controversy statements by Martin Daly.

This comment by Nasdion Chalidi SH, legal advisor to MMTA. Mr Daly has a serious problem now with the Authority in Indonesia as result from his insults to many people. Now he is facing the LSM case for insulting all Mentawai people and new case for insulting the Mentawai Government and Indonesian National Government. When Mr Daly made apology for his "primitif" comment on video he said he has miss understood by the Mentawai student groups and LSM but now he confirm his bias and prejudice with new insults against business leaders in West Sumatra and many Government official. The people he calls "CAPITALIST PIG" include the Head of Chamber of Commerce for Mentawai (Bangun LH) and Head of Tourism division of Chamber of Commerce for West Sumatra (Anom Suheri).

Head of the Tourism Division of the West Sumatran Chamber of Commerce and Director of PT SKM, Anon Suheri, was interviewed by Singgalang reporter to ask his view of Martin Daly insults. This article is still in Indonesian language. Later we will publish the English translate.

MMTA Will Report Martin Daly to West Sumatran Police

The Mentawai Marine Tourism Association will report Martin Daly, Australian businessman and surfer to the West Sumatran Police. The Association is claiming that statements by made by Martin Daly in www.surfline.com August 26th Edition, damage the industry.

In the Global reference website, Martin Daly stated that the Government and the marine tourism industry in Mentawai are colluding as "Capitalist Pigs" and just looking for a quick profit. He says Mentawai tourism in a global sense, is operating without control.

"MMTA will meet to discuss our report to POLDA soon" said Bp Nasdion Kalidi, S.H. Mkn. legal advisor to the MMTA stated on Monday (22/9).

 MMTA said Nasdion, has been seriously damaged by Martin Daly's statement. The consequence of the statement by Martin is that surfers will be turned away from Mentawai. We are already experiencing a 40% reduction in bookings for surf (vacations) in the Mentawai  Archipelago.

Nasdion strongly objected to the statements by Martin on the basis that he has been in business here for 15 years in the Mentawai Islands. He has already pulled out how many million dollars from Mentawai. Why, when he is leaving Mentawai, must he project a bad image to the global surfing community.

Martin Daly's company representative in Padang, Sherly was contacted by Singgalang by phone but she refused to comment. After that the reporter visited the office in Batang Arau Hotel but he was refused a chance to meet. "Madam is very busy" said Yuli, assistant to Sherly, to the Singgalang reporter.

Tua Pejat - 2nd July, 2008
Final Coordination Meeting Socialization of PERDA No 16, 2002
Hosted by BUPATI Mentawai & Head of Tourism Mentawai

Present:
Regent (BUPATI) Mentawai Islands Regency
Head of Police (KAPOLRES) Mentawai Islands Regency
Head of Parliament Mentawai Islands Regency
Head of Tourism Mentawai Islands Regency
Chairman & Secretary MMTA
MMTA Resort and Boat Owners
Unregistered Boat & Resort Owners
Advisory Board Member AKSSB, Bp Aim Zein
Other Mentawai Government Officials

BUPATI Mentawai thanked all industry representatives for attending and noted that the meeting would focus on listening to the points of view of both the licensed and the unlicensed resort and boat owners and for further clarification of Mentawai Government policy on marine tourism. The Bupati stated that he would not tolerate "secret" marine tourism any longer. All boat owners who wished to operate from now on must be licensed and operate in a transparent manner. He further clarified that PERDA No 16, 2002 was the key reason that investors started building resorts in 2004 after more than 20 years of surf charter boats visiting the region.

"We understand that boats have been operating a long time but they contribute nothing to the local population. Investors prefer to invest in boats because they dont have the overheads of land based resorts... they are like the logging industry, they come for the season, like the logging companies come for the timber, and then leave the area with only rubbish left behind......."

The Bupati called on the boat owners to support the 5 licensed companies to develop on land, to pay their taxes and license fees and to help the Mentawai Government to support infrastructure. "Every one of the five companies can have a thousand investors and many new companies"

The Bupati stated that from now on there would be no more 'playing around' and that tourism regulations would now be enforced strictly. He confirmed that field patrols would commence on the 15th of July and continue as long as necessary to give protection to the land based investors.

The Head of Mentawai Parliament spoke about the future plans to revise PERDA No 16, 2002. Stakeholders will be consulted on future changes and the regulation will be evaluated at some point next year after the resorts have a chance to benefit from the protection that is needed to encourage land based tourism. He stressed that all Mentawai PERDAs are the product of the people of Mentawai and that outside parties do not have any right to ask for changes.

The Head of Mentawai Police supported the Bupati and the Head of Parliament and confirmed that the Police are ready to join patrols.

The Head of Tourism Mentawai stated that he hoped all stakeholders could work together in harmony and that all operators would be evaluated continuously.

Bu Rita Marina from PT BSM asked Martin Daly to confirm that he had made various statements to the Australian surf media that were confusing and inaccurate.

Bp Aim Zein (Advisor to the AKSSB) stated that he hoped all parties could forget the past and stop focusing on mistakes and problems so that the industry could work together in the future to help build tourism in Mentawai.

Anom Suheri (Un) (Head of the MMTA) spoke about an incident involving 2 US surfers renting an unlicensed house near his company's resort. The surfers accused a local village man of stealing their face mask and started beating him without reporting the incident to the police or any local authority. The 19 yo man was severely injured and other villagers came to his assistance. The situation got out of control and over 75 villagers surrounded the surfers and beat them. The head of the village restored calm but the village demanded compensation and the surfers agreed that they were in the wrong and they paid $3,000. The surfers also agreed to pay for the speedboat rental back to Padang and additional medical expenses for the injured and innocent village man. So far they have not honored their promise to pay. Un called for urgent policing of the PERDA No 16 rules that ban tourists from staying in unlicensed premises. Un also discussed the overheads that his resort must bear to support the local community and reminded the meeting that foreign flag boats do not have to pay tax in Indonesia and so operate at a big advantage in a competitive market.

Roberthyl Saogo from PT BTK asked why the board of AKSSB had not attended the meeting. He suggested that this showed disrespect for the Mentawai Government and the other stakeholders who had travelled far to attend in the hope of resolving conflict. He pointed out that the Mentawai people were a peace loving community and that they welcomed dialogue but that the absence of any board member of the AKSSB made it impossible to reach any conclusion at the meeting.

Gilles Bordessoule  from PT Mentawai Adventure suggested that all resorts build a losmen on their land and hand over the operation to local communities so that they can be trained in hotel skills.

Bp Alidinar Nurdin from Nusa Dewata suggested that his boat owner was not financially strong enough to build a resort and that he hoped that everything could remain as it was in the past.

Martin Daly from Indies Trader 1, 2, 3 & 4 thanked the Bupati for the opportunity to communicate with the Mentawai Government. (he mentioned to one MMTA member that this was the first time he had visited the capital Tua Pejat and seen the extend of the infrastructure) Daly suggested that since he was the biggest and longest running surf charter operator, that the Government should listen to his ideas. He asked Bp Aim Zein to translate so that he would not be misunderstood or misinterpreted. Daly said he was sad and disappointed that the Government did not want to hear his ideas or meet with his boat association. He said he was afraid to speak openly because he was under personal attack by many people in Mentawai but he agreed that boats were just the pioneers for tourism and that the future must be different.

Bp Haji Nursyam from PT MWB asked the head of tourism to make sure the new marine tourism regulations were well implemented so that the National Government plans for 3 airports would be well supported by land based tourism accommodation. An international airport is planned in South Siberut, the Rokot airport will be relocated inland and a new airport will be built near Sikakap.