After months of delays, it was a great
relief to finally bring good news to Gili Sunut.
While many investors are good at talking,
few actual deliver what they so easily promise. After 3 years of struggle, it
was therefore a celebration day when Pak Martin COO of Ocean Blue Resorts was
able to confirm that construction for the mainland village would restart immediately. At the village
meeting to discuss the news was Pak Yasin and Pak Muhasim.
But the news did not come without concerns
from the community. The meeting on the island was attended by hundreds of eager
villages, including village elders, community leaders, parents and kids. Given
that there had been serious delays before, including a court case over the
Teanjah Anjah land title, the first reaction to the news was not as enthusiastic
as you would imagine.
Given the opportunity to speak at the
public meeting, Pak Martin confirmed that the restart was real and that this time,
no legal issues would stop the completion of the new village on the mainland. He
personally apologised to everyone for the delays and genuinely understood the
hardship it had caused. He went on to thank the community for working together
to help make this a success and looked forward to developing the sustainable
future the community deserved.
With some families concerns openly
discussed, the community could see that finally their new village would become
a reality. And, that they would be
allowed to be part of the construction process by working (and getting paid) to
build their house. All 109 of them.
With everyone united, the race is now on to
complete the project before the rain season arrives.
