News Wire
News are widespread on the plan issued by Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli when he is cited to upbeat the management of Lake Toba by a single agency.
"By focusing on the development pattern, there are sufficient funds available to build the necessary facilities," said Rizal Ramli after attending a limited cabinet meeting on planned development of Lake Toba tourist destination at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
With budget allocated set at 21 thrillion rupiahs, this will be the most heavily targeted megaproject by all stakeholders.
Urgencies
The following steps that needs to be carried out by the government is cleaning fish waste in Lake Toba. At least 246 tons of fish fodder is scattered into the lake each month, while 20 percent of it is not eaten and so pollute the lake ecosystem. This is one among other challenges that needs to be brought in order to make a stable environmental support for the big plan itself.
The government also has set up a scheme so that seven regions around Lake Toba would benefit from the positive impacts of development in the region. Lake Toba is one of the top 10 prioritized tourist destinations, namely Borobudur, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, Bromo-Tengger-Semeru, Thousand Islands, Lake Toba, Wakatobi, Tanjung Lesung, Morotai, and Tanjung Kelayang. Directly order from the president, this agenda should not be delayed for the common good of the people (bonum commune) especially for the local people.
Sustainable and Holistic Ecotourism: An offer from the very local people. It is interesting to notice that this design has attracted so many attentions.
Put that in bipolar perspective and you will see that views are coming from both the very local people and other stakeholders that - probably are not really understand what happens in the regions surrounding Lake Toba - but still want to contribute in that project in any kind of approach. Put that in unpolarized perspective and you will find so many insights and criticism, both destructive and constructive ideas.
Mangadar Situmorang, a consistent environmental activist and scholar, who currently is the rector of Catholic University of Parahyangan Bandung, recently wrote some enlightening and brief notions about the issue in Kompas, the biggest newspaper in the country, dated February 10th, 2016.