Refugees eager to return to devastated resort for work<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>\n
Refugees have asked the Kampar regency administration in North
\nSumatra to speed up the rebuilding of Bukit Lawang resort town,
\nwhich was devastated by last month's flash flood, in order for
\nthem to again start making money from the tourist trade that they
\nwork in.<\/p>\n
The local government decided to close the resort in Bahorok
\nsubdistrict for renovations that would last for six months after
\nthe Nov. 2 flood that left at least 157 people dead and 87 others
\nwho are still officially considered missing, but presumed dead.<\/p>\n
However, the displaced families said it was six months was far
\ntoo long for them to be without an income source, and they are
\neager to resume business in the popular resort.<\/p>\n
Indra Hasyim, 41, who owned a cottage in the hilly area, said
\non Friday he did not know what to do earn money and survive
\nexcept to wait to return to Bukit Lawang.<\/p>\n
\"I hope the local administration will speed up the renovation
\nprocess, because living in a refugee camp offers no chance to
\nearn money. I have to feed my family,\" said Indra, a father of
\nthree and married to an Australian woman.<\/p>\n
He has been running his tourism business for more than seven
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Another refugee, Abdi B. Siregar, 35, said that the longer the
\nadministration waited to repair the resort, the more sorrow the
\nvictims would feel as they could not live normally in camps.<\/p>\n
\"I just want to continue my life as it used to be. It's so
\ndifficult for me to stay here and doing nothing. I need to be
\nbusy doing working so I can stop pondering about my family who I
\nmiss desperately,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Abdi lost his wife and two children who all drowned as the
\nfloodwaters that ripped through the resort town. Their bodies
\nremain missing.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Tourism and Culture I Gde Ardhika visited
\nthe devastated area on Friday and promised to restore and develop
\nthe resort based on an eco-tourism concept.<\/p>\n
This means the establishment of new resettlement areas would
\nbe banned near the Bahorok riverbank, he added.<\/p>\n
\"The previous tourism concept developed here by the regency
\nadministration was not correct, because it allowed the creation
\nof resettlement areas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The minister said that under the renovation plans, he would
\nask the Langkat government to focus on three main principles of
\nthe eco-tourism concept -- to sustain the environment, create an
\neducational place and make use of local human resources.<\/p>\n
During the visit, he, along with dozens of refugees and other
\nsurvivors, also held prayers for those killed in the flood widely
\nblamed on rampant illegal logging up river in the Mount Leuser
\nNational Park.<\/p>\n
Bahorok is on the eastern edge of the park and is home to an
\norangutan reserve popular among domestic and foreign tourists,
\nwho go trekking and whitewater rafting there.<\/p>\n
Data showed that before the disaster, up to 3,000 local and
\nforeign tourists visited Bukit Lawang each day.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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