Airport under construction to provide access to Lake Toba
Benget Simbolon Tnb., The Jakarta Post, Silangit, North Tapanuli
People who have visited Lake Toba several times will find it hard to believe that an international airport accessible by a Boeing airplane direct from Singapore or Jakarta is now under construction in Silangit, about five kilometers to the north of Siborong-borong, a North Tapanuli subdistrict in North Sumatra.
"I don't believe it. Is it really true? Perhaps it's only a plan. If so, it'll take a long time to realize," said Togar Simatupang, a Jakartan who originates from Muara, a subdistrict near Silangit, upon hearing that an airport was being developed.
"If it is true it will be a giant step in assisting the least developed area in the province," he told The Jakarta Post last weekend.
Several individuals from a group from Jakarta invited to visit the airport could not really believe that it was under construction.
"Is it true that it has been under construction in Silangit?" was a question from a journalist to Potsdam Hutasoit, a member of House of Representatives Commission IV (dealing with transportation and infrastructure), who led a group of people to see the ongoing construction of the airport.
The airport is now being developed by the North Tapanuli administration in Silangit, a village that is passed on the way from Siborong-borong to Muara adjacent to the southern shore of Lake Toba, the biggest lake in Asia.
"We originally initiated this development in 1988. But we faced financial problems. At that time, we understood that transportation was the key to developing the area," he told The Jakarta Post when visiting the airport construction Tuesday last week.
So far, some 900 meters of the airport runway have been constructed. "The runway will have a length of 2,350 meters and a width of 30 meters. Hopefully, when completed next year, it will be able to accommodate a Boeing aircraft," said Saud M. Tambunan, president director of Roy Grup, the developer of Silangit airport.
North Tapanuli Regent R.E. Nainggolan told the Post last Tuesday that he had allocated about Rp 2.7 billion (US$321,428) from the regency's 2004 budget to support the development.
He added the central government had also allocated about Rp 9 billion from the 2004 national budget, which had been approved by the House, to finance the first stage of airport development.
"As it is a national project, the central government will also finance the subsequent stages of its development," said Nainggolan, the outgoing regent, who will be replaced by Torang Lumban Tobing, elected in a general session of the regency's house of representatives last week.
Potsdam Hutasoit, who is also a deputy chairman of Ad Hoc Commission II of the People's Consultative Assembly's Working Committee, said that the airport construction was a breakthrough in spurring development in the areas surrounding Lake Toba and the western parts of North Sumatra province, which had long been known as pockets of poverty and a rural backwater.
"All these areas have great potential, but due to accessibility problems it could not be realized easily. Look at that lake -- don't you think it's beautiful? The land around it is good for agriculture. There are also mining projects in several places," Potsdam said, pointing at Lake Toba, while sitting in a hut in Huta Ginjang, a village on the mountainous area surrounding the southern part of the lake.
"This is a national asset that should be developed so that it can contribute well to the national economy," he pointed out.
At present, he said, people needed at least three days to visit Lake Toba as they had to go to Medan first before traveling about eight hours by bus to Parapat, a small city on the eastern coastal area of the lake.
He said that when the airport was in operation -- hopefully next year -- visitors could access the lake in about an hour from Singapore and about one-and-a-half hours from Jakarta. All other areas around the lake could be accessed from Silangit within about half an hour at the most.
The locals will also be able to market their produce directly to Singapore or Jakarta in fresh condition without fearing that it will go rotten on the way, he said.
"With that breakthrough, we hope development here will be accelerated. Tourism will flourish, agriculture will do well. All sectors of development will rapidly grow to benefit the locals, who are mostly poor," he said, while drinking a cup of coffee in a simple hut surrounded by simple houses near Silangit.