By Nia S. Amira
After a series of general lectures in leading universities of Jakarta, Indonesia, Cesar Esteban Grillon a man with genuine smile and a familiar face in the academic world and known by everyone as the Ambassador of Paraguay in Indonesia has recently accomplished with great success his fourth general lecture at the Jakarta Fisheries University on January 14, 2015. This lecture was organized in partnership with the leadership of the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries Affairs and aims to promote the Asean Economic Society in 2015 in Indonesia.
Amb. Grillon, accompanied by his beloved son, Stephen Grillon were surprised to see the students, called cadets dressed up in their outstanding uniform as if they were Navy officers.
After the hospitality and welcoming ceremony offered by Mr. Tatang Taufiq Hidayat and Mr. Subroto, Rector and Vice Rector of the Jakarta Fisheries University, this open hearted Paraguayan motivation speaker begun his presentation in the big auditorium, dominated by the blue color as symbol of the oceans, Grillon was assisted by the Director of Post Graduate Studies, Dr. Suharyanto and I. Ketut Sumandiarsa, M.Sc. as moderators who succeeded to make the audience feeling comfortable and listening carefully to the guest speaker. Hundreds of student with a big enthusiasm addressed him with smart questions and laughed when he shared jokes to cheer up the session.
Amb. Grillon was happy to have the general lecture at this well-known campus that has been creating thousands of young generations to become experts in the field of maritime studies, fisheries & environment and Dr. Ita Junita Puspadewi, A.Pi, M.Pd (44) is the first female Doctor at Jakarta Fisheries University specialized in Fisheries and Environment since the campus was established in 1962. Under the supervision of the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries and in anticipation of the importance of Indonesian Maritime and Fisheries sectors, the stakeholders expanded the campus in two other areas which are situated in Kerawang campus, West Java, with a focus on factory building and campus research and in Wakatobi islands, South-East Sulawesi with a concentration in conservation.
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world spanning over 1,860,360 sq. km. with 17,508 islands, 250 million people with 300 ethnic groups who speak 365 different languages and dialects. It is without a doubt that the country needs to take comprehensive steps on its national development; particularly those areas focused on human resources, knowledge & information technology, maritime sciences, preservation of culture while considering its strategic position located in the cross roads of South East Asia and in the middle of many important deep water commercial routes.
In Indonesia 2/3 of its territory is covered by water where indigenous people live and do their daily activity as fishermen. They are not so lucky like their brothers living in the mountain areas where facilities are available and provided by the government, the fisherman family still depends on the generator that has a high cost even by using it 6 hours per day and have limitations to watch regularly their favorite football match and TV drama. Electricity is a really big issue in the remote islands and the magic square box that is called TV rarely comes to introduce today’s news program, local soap opera and info-entertainment to their loyal customers due to the lack of electricity power.
Then how to make these things happen when there is a demand of electricity of 207 TWh at the end of 2014 and to reach 386 TWh by 2020?
There is no other choice except to use carbon mining or to empty the reserves of geothermal sources for having sufficient electricity. It would be wiser for the Indonesian government to start the implementation of Renewable Energy Projects across the nation, while using massive resources of ocean water for the benefit of the country’s future renewable energy potential as well for the welfare of the Indonesian people in the entire archipelago. On the other hand the surrounding ocean would be happy to give the wave that shall be used as the power of energy to work on the electricity that will cost nothing but the technology and as a result it will decrease the cost significantly from time to time, plus making satisfying the families in the remote area by giving them the chance to see the world through the famous smart glass box.
Ambassador Grillon’s lecture was finished by answering the questions raised by two cadets who expressed a deep interested in the relations between Indonesia and Paraguay, and Anita Kurniati Hasibuan (a cadet) quickly responded to Amb. Grillon when the latter asked her to provide the name of the capital city of Paraguay. The other cadet, Putra Yudha Pamungkas raised his hand when the second question posed by Amb. Grillon in reference to the best goal maker in Paraguay’s National Soccer Team. Both cadets of this prestigious university were happy to receive the Paraguayan National Flag from the Ambassador.
Great people in a great country with abundant natural resources, it is necessary to invest for the future and handle the present challenges, even more so when Indonesia will place its position as the stream of world maritime resources and become a leading nation in the region especially in a dynamic environment of the Asean Economic Society in 2015.
The glory of Indonesia’s maritime resources in the archipelago and the welfare of its people will soon return as it has been in the past. The target is there and a good government team is poised to address these challenges.
