Holiday Ayo - The news of the auction of the Widi Islands which are located in South Halmahera, North Maluku, has drawn attention. The islands, which are famous for their beauty, will be auctioned off by the Sotheby's auction house in New York, United States (US), from 8-14 December 2022.

For those who are interested, they are asked to provide a deposit of USD 100 thousand or around IDR 1.5 billion to prove their seriousness. Widi Island's entry into the auction list has drawn attention.

As cited from liputan6.com, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf), Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, emphasized that the island was definitely not for sale.

"So the result of my direct meeting with the South Halmahera Regent, we can be sure that the island will not be sold," said Sandiaga Uno in The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno, Monday (5/12).

"You can be sure that the island will not be put up for auction, because it cannot be sold, because the island belongs to the South Halmahera Regency Government," he added.

Sandiaga Uno said that the island was not for sale, but would be developed into a tourist island. Sandiaga is also studying the cooperation to ensure that the auction does not violate the rules.

"What happened was that there was an agreement with a third party, the private sector, where the domicile of the businessman is in Bali, and now he is trying to accelerate the development of tourism in the Widi Island cluster," said Sandiaga.

"We are studying the form of cooperation and we will make sure that the form of cooperation does not violate the rules," added the man who is familiarly called Sandi. He also ensures that the development of Widi Island is in accordance with the regulations, especially for the benefit of the people.

Sandi urged the public to remain calm and not exaggerate in responding to an issue if they did not know the form of cooperation. One example of cooperation in the development of an island that has previously been carried out is the development of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Morotai.

"Cooperation is commonplace. For example the special economic zone in Morotai, because at the end of the day it is for the welfare of the Indonesian people," said Sandi.

Sandi also acknowledged the beauty of the Widi Islands which he claimed could become Indonesia's Maldives.