A gem loses its luster

Its famed beauty has long drawn tourists to Lake Toba and Samosir island, which is situated right in the center of the lake in North Sumatra.

But in the last several years, the number of visiting tourists to the country's biggest lake in the town of Parapat, Simalungun regency, has dropped.

It cannot be excused away due to the fall in tourists to the country during the crisis and widespread unrest. Poor land accessiblity to the lake as well as mounting environmental pollution are also to blame.

As one of the most visited tourist destinations in the country, the lake awaits helping hands, like a gem, once beautiful but now tarnished by time, desperately in need of a new polish.

-- JP/Arief Suhardiman