Monday, September 28, 2009

Briton named `best public figure` in Indonesia's Gorontalo

Source: Antara News

Lynn Marion Clayton, a British female reseacher, who has been working in Nantu forest, Boalemo district, was selected as Gorontalo`s Best Public Figure in 2009, a spokesman for the selection committee said.

The title was awarded to Clayton by Moawota, a Gorontalo community organization in Makassar, South Sulawesi, under the the "Gong 2030" or "Superior Gorontalo" program, Muhammad Rum Dali, chairman of the Best Gorontalo Public Figures 2009 organizing committee, said here Saturday.

Dali said in the selection, the committee evaluated 10 people in the region as potential public figures based on the opinions of 1,000 respondents in the region who sent in their choices by short text message (SMS) and Facebook.

The ten potential public figures generally work in the fields of education, agriculture, environment, health and religion affairs, he said.

"It`s a fact Lynn Clayton is a foreign citizen who lives in Gorontalo. However, the selection committee had decided that anyone from any country, if he or she is domiciled in Gorontalo and dedicates his or her life to the welfare of the local people, he or she deserves to receive a citation," Dali said.

Marion Lynn Clayton is a doctoral conservation expert and has been living for 20 years in the region to do research in the Nantu Forest in Boalemo District, Gorontalo province.

Lynn has been conducting various studies, especially on boars and deer in forests that cover a total area of 31,215 hectares, Muhammad said.

Meanwhile, Clayton expressed her gratitute after receiving the award because it showed the local public appreciated her and her work in the region.