Surabaya, E Java (Antara) - Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini has rejected a plan to raise Surabaya zoo admission ticket to Rp25 thousand from Rp15 thousand previously. "The zoo is not profit-oriented. Besides from the city budget, the zoo can earn income from advertisements," she said here on Tuesday. The mayor said the zoo must remain a low-cost recreational spot for Surabaya residents. Thus, it must not earn money in the way how other regional government-owned companies did. The city administration had been prepared to bear all operating expenses of the zoo since it took over the management of the zoo in mid 2013, she said. She said the city government had set aside Rp52 billion in funds to finance the operation of the zoo. The funds would be disbursed in stages, with Rp10 billion of its to be disbursed this year. A number of parties had expressed readiness to cooperate with the management of the zoo particularly in feeding animals. The cooperation would of course reduce the operating expenses, she said. The Conservation Institution has issued a decision requiring the management of the Surabaya Zoo to comply with Law No. 5/1990 on the conservation of biological resources and ecosystem. Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan handed the decision to the Surabaya mayor on Aug 18. Under the decision, the zoo would serve as an education, recreation, and animal conservation center. Therefore, the zoo must not be managed like in the past, Zulkifli Hasan announced at a seminar on conservation at the campus C of the Surabaya-based Airlangga University (Unair) on Monday. Therefore, the cages for all the animals must be made in such a way that the animals should feel as comfortable as in their natural habitat, he noted. Surabaya Zoo President Director Ratna Achjuningrum said the operating cost which reached an average Rp1.7 billion a year was too high. In contrast, the zoo earned Rp1.6 billion a year. (*)

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Editor : Edy M Yakub


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