The following is a statement released by Macaronis Resort:

The surf media have sadly been involved in a recent defamation of Macaronis Resort regarding an incident that occurred between the charter boat, Huey, and local police on Friday October 9, 2015 around 11:00AM.

Our response is now necessary, as we have been receiving threats that have put our safety, and the many local families we support, in jeopardy.

Macaronis Resort was not involved in the shot fired by police that took place at Macaronis wave last week.

Just like you, we only heard stories about the incident after it occurred.

The surf media has been publishing this story, which was brought to them directly from the charter boat, Huey, in an effort to defame Macaronis Resort.

Most of the articles have been based on extremely biased quotes by those who wish ill will on the resort or by people who are making assumptions based on rumors and misinformation.

The incident that took place was caused by Huey violating a local law, and a local police officer (with no affiliation with Macaronis Resort) who was enforcing that day.

The regulation, put in place by the Mentawai Government in 2009, and reinforced at government meetings held in 2012 and 2014, regulates the overpopulation of boats in Pasangan Bay (at Macaronis wave), by allowing any and all charter boats access, limit 2 boats per day, by reservation.

This was an action taken by the local government in order to sustain the delicate environment and support the local community, while still providing sustainable public access to all visitors.

From what witnesses have told us, Huey entered the bay as the third boat without a reservation and refused to leave.

When police approached Huey, and asked them to leave, Huey ignored them and after a long waiting period a police officer fired a shot into the air to get their attention.

The shot was not fired at any surfers, tourists, boats, or people, and was not intended to do any harm.

Macaronis Resort was as shocked as anyone to hear that this shot was fired. Macaronis Resort does not condone the use of firearms and would never encourage the local law to take such actions, nor do we have any control over local law enforcement.

We were told by the police that the police officer in charge was following law enforcement procedure. The resort is no way responsible for the way in which Indonesian police act to enforce their laws, or toward offenders of the law.

Macaronis Resort has requested the police provide a written statement to clarify their actions in relation to the incident (currently in process), and also to clarify the legal situation relating to the twin mooring system.

This is a conflict which has arisen between a police officer and the boat Huey, and Macaronis Resort does not accept any responsibility over this matter.

Macaronis Resort does not condone breaking of local laws, or the use of firearms in any situation.

Macaronis Resort encourages charter boats to communicate their visit by booking a mooring in advance and complying with the local regulations in order to avoid conflict with the local law enforcement.

We are deeply saddened by this incident, and hope that those who have taken the time to read the articles and comments can see the truth behind this story.

We have noted that most of those making objective claims or abusive comments towards the resort on social media are charter boat operators themselves (or their friends/employees), and the allegations made are purely an attempt to defame the face of Macaronis Resort.

Macaronis Resort respects the local village, local law, and all traveling surfers and wishes no harm on anyone.

We are happy to share waves with visiting charter boats and we have never and will never claim Macaronis wave as our own, it is not.

In addition, we have included a brief history of Macaronis Resort below which outlines the extent to which we contribute and are a part of the local community.

A Brief History of the Macaronis Resort Community

Macaronis Resort was founded in year 2004 under the licenses and permits held by foreign investment company, PT.Internusa Bahagia; with a desire to offer land based surf accommodation located nearby Macaronis wave in Pasangan Bay, operating in accordance with regional, state and national laws. The primary aim of the business was for like-minded surfers to invest in building a land based resort, for the enjoyment of all, as well as benefiting the local community by providing employment and training, prioritizing purchase of local produce, as well as contributing to projects that would benefit the community.

As tourism has developed in the Mentawai Islands with arrival of surf charters in the early 90’s; prior to year 2004 very little benefit went back toward local communities. For example, with up to 8 charter boats visiting Macaronis at any one time (common between year 2000 – year 2009) with avg. 10 guests on each paying approx. Rp.3.000.000 per head / per day, this would total 8 x 10 x Rp.3.000.000 = Rp. 240,000,000 income per day to visiting charter boats. Yet the only income derived by Silabu Village from tourism was a donation of Rp.200.000 per vessel / ‘per trip’. If staying 4 days, it would be equivalent to a donation of Rp.5.000 per boat guest / per day. As there previously was no tourism legislation and no applicable taxes, the village and local government were previously in a very weak position only being able to rely on donations from visiting tourist boats at that time.

The first commitment made by the resort with the local community in year 2003 was to offer a donation of Rp.10.000 per guests / per night staying at the resort, which became valid from commencement of trading in year 2005. This was increased to Rp.15.000 per guest / per night in year 2010, and in year 2016 the Company intends to further increase this contribution to Rp.20.000 per guest / per night. With avg. 24 guests staying at the resort at a time, this alone contributes 24 x 30 x Rp.20.000 = Rp.14.400.000 per month, or approximately Rp.144.000.000 per year. This contribution is made as part of an MOU, whereby the Kepala Desa and village staff agree to accept this donation specifically to benefit local community projects, while also formally agreeing to have the community respect and support the operation of the resort, and the rights of the company, with aim for both sides to co-exist harmoniously under mutually beneficial conditions. This MOU has been updated 3 times since it was first written in year 2005, and the company intends to update the agreement once again with the newly elected Kepala Desa prior to commencement of trading in year 2016.

Aside from the donations made as a part of the existing MOU with the local community, Macaronis Resort also contributes directly to various other important community projects, and in future all donations will be made via Pagai Foundation, which has been established in year 2014 to provide a foundation to account for the financial contributions being made, and to facilitate further donations from guests and outside sources keen to contribute to worthwhile humanitarian and community development projects, similar to efforts made by the Sumba Foundation which has been so successful in that part of Indonesia.

Aside from the various donations made over the years, the major on-going benefit is in the form of employment and training, contributing more than Rp.500.000.000 annually paid out to local Mentawai employees, and legal obligation of the company to pay hotel and restaurant tax to the Mentawai Government amounting to approx. Rp.300.000.000 annually, which becomes part of the annual spending budget for the region. The company also pays an additional Rp.18.000.000 per month, or Rp.180.000.000 per year to Silabu Village which goes toward tourism management; specifically regulation of the resort buffer zone and management of moorings provided for visiting charter boats.

N.B In years 2010 and 2012 visiting charter boats previously paid the village Rp.300.000 per day to use a mooring, with the village collecting total Rp.600.000 per day from two visiting boats, or Rp.18.000.000 per month. But since the West Sumatran Boat Association (AKSSB) made an official complaint to the Mentawai Government claiming there was no legal basis for charging for use of moorings, the Mentawai Government surprisingly supported this motion, regardless that the vast majority of charter boats do not hold operational licenses under Mentawai tourism regulations (perda 16, year 2002). Since August year 2012, Macaronis Resort has had to fund operational costs of tourism management in the resort buffer zone, providing speed boats to village staff and police, providing fuel and funding maintenance and upkeep of boats and moorings, at an estimated cost of additional Rp.80.000.000 annually.

Over time, it is desirable that the local community continues acquiring appropriate skills to allow more Mentawaians to be employed by the resort. However, this must be a gradual process to ensure the resort continues to provide the appropriate level of services for guests staying at the resort, and to keep up our solid reputation which has been built over many years. By employing more locals in the business, this would significantly reduce cost of the company having to re-locate English speaking professional staff from far-away places, whilst also providing increased economic benefit toward the local community.

The resort operation has clearly increased economic benefit derived from tourism well beyond that prior to existence of the resort, by more than 10 fold. Also keeping in mind, the above figures only refer to economic benefit derived from day to day operations of the resort. There is also the original and post tsunami building projects which provided contractual employment and purchase of local materials, plus the various capital improvements being made year by year. As the local community receives increased financial benefit from tourism operations and development, this has resulted in a positive effect, firstly benefiting the community in terms of improved health standards, wellbeing and education; and secondly in terms of providing economic growth allowing development of new businesses.

Our aim is to continue this mutually beneficial relationship between the resort and the local community. However, it needs to be considered that the business has undergone significant losses in past years; firstly as a result of operational losses endured during infancy years of operation between years 2005 and 2009, when the resort ran at a combined 6 milyar loss over 5 years, due to there being no reliable transport between Padang and Mentawai, and due to there being no mooring system, with heavy reliance on large speedboats to take guests to faraway surf breaks due to Macaronis being constantly over-crowded with charter boats. And secondly due to the October 25 2010 tsunami, which resulted in a further 13 milyar loss of buildings and equipment (at which time the resort was uninsured), with total losses amounting to 19 milyar since commencement of trading in year 2005.

Due to our recent success since re-opening in year 2012 with the newly designed resort, these losses are gradually being recovered and it is anticipated that by year 2018, all losses will be recovered. Upon recovering prior year losses, the business will then be in a position to make dividend payments to the investors, some of whom have been involved more than 10 years awaiting a return on their investment. It is important the financial position of the Company is understood by staff and the local community, as one may assume the Company is making huge profits and the investors have made a lot of money from the business already, but unfortunately this has not been the case.

The future however is looking very positive, as resort infrastructure is now fully insured against natural disaster, and it is planned that as previous losses are recovered, investors will commit to re-invest future profits to expand the resort, further boosting economic benefit back into the local community. For this to proceed, it is crucial the local government provides continued support; and also it is hoped that new Mentawai tourism legislation passed in April year 2015 will soon be socialized, resulting in all charter boats needing to be licensed and comply with the regional tourism regulations.

*N.B The Mentawai Islands officially became its own Regency in 1999, at which time the Mentawai Government became responsible for managing industry up to 4 miles off the coast (under laws of autonomy), provided regional legislation passed by the Mentawai Senate is not in conflict with Provincial or National legislation. Regional Law No.16 relating to tourism was released in year 2002, with an aim to regulate the tourism industry and encourage building of land based resorts. Ultimately the regulations were conflictual, as some operators embraced the legislation with intent to build on land, while others rejected it. In particular, the majority of charter boat operators rejected the legislation, as it required them to become licensed under a registered tourism company which satisfied the pre-requisites to hold a license; ie. 1. Must own or lease land with a registered office in Mentawai, 2. Must have plans approved to build a land based tourist resort in Mentawai. New legislation released in April year 2015 apparently allows charter boats to acquire licenses independently, while the government intends to regulate carrying capacities of the most popular surf breaks to maintain sustainability of land based resorts (as is the situation at Macaronis), which is most promising, as this would allow all stakeholders to become licensed independently, and regulated under a singular set of tourism laws – currently awaiting socialization from the Mentawai Govt.”