Bukit Lawang waits for tourists' return
Bukit Lawang waits for tourists' return
The Jakarta Post, Bahorok
A group of foreign tourists were seen recently traveling around
the Bukit Lawang tourist resort in North Sumatra in motorized
pedicabs, enjoying all the sights the area has to offer.
The sight was a rare one, especially after a flash flood in
2003 devastated the tourist resort, killing six foreign tourists
and damaging 35 hotels.
The chairman of the Indonesian Tour Guides Association in
Langkat, Usman Hasyimi, said about 300 foreign tourists visited
Bukit Lawang each month, down from an average of 500 tourists
before the tragedy. Most of the tourists come from Australia,
Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands,
Spain, Switzerland and the United States.
"They are attracted by the natural beauty and the orangutans.
Bukit Lawang means nothing without the two, especially the
orangutans," Usman said.
The orangutans draw foreign tourists to the resorts, which
stretches out over 200 hectares and is part of the Gunung Leuser
National Park.
"There are now some 150 orangutans living freely in the Bukit
Lawang forest," said Usman.
Back in the 1930s, Bukit Lawang was a plantation overseen by
the Dutch colonial administration. After the country gained
independence in 1945, the area evolved into a tourist resort.
In 1973, the World Wildlife Fund set up an orangutan
rehabilitation center in Bukit Lawang, handing over the center to
the Ministry of Forestry in 1982.
Since the center was established, the government has turned
the area into one of the leading tourist destinations in North
Sumatra.
Usman said Bukit Lawang enjoyed its glory days in 1995 and
1996, when about 40,000 foreign tourists visited the area.
But after the flash flood two years ago, these kind of
numbers will be difficult to once again achieve.
"We are sad because the government has not shown the
initiative to return Bukit Lawang to its heyday. It is still
neglected, harming the local economy and residents who depend on
tourism for their livelihood," said Usman.
A survivor of the flash flood, Ganti Sembiring, 47, said his
food stall was nearly empty every day now and he only earned Rp
15,000 (US$1.50) at most on a good day.
"The money I earn is clearly not enough to meet my family's
daily needs," said the father of five.
Ganti previously operated a cafe and an inn in Bukit Lawang
but they were swept away by the flood, which some people have
blamed on illegal logging in the national park.
However, a report released this month by the UN's Food and
Agriculture Organization and the Indonesian-based Center for
International Forestry Research found there was no scientific
evidence linking large-scale flooding to deforestation.
A German national, Willi Aschenberg, who helps his wife run an
inn in Bukit Lawang, said lodge operators were also feeling the
pinch from the drastic drop in tourist numbers.
Aschenberg said that as of October this year, only 2,000
tourists from Europe and the U.S. had stayed at his inn, about
half the number of visitors the inn could have expected prior to
the flood. On average, he said, tourists only stayed for two days
in Bukit Lawang due to limited facilities.
"This can be detrimental for tourism in Bukit Lawang because
there are no phone, Internet or electricity lines connected here.
The road leading to Bukit Lawang is also very bad," said
Aschenberg.
Extensive sections of the road leading into Langkat regency
after the town of Binjai, particularly in Selesai, Kuala,
Selapian and Bahorok districts, are damaged.
This has lengthened the travel time between Medan and Bukit
Lawang, a distance of 85 kilometers, to four hours. The trip
could be expected to be completed in two hours on a good road.
A Canadian tourist, Geraldine Spurr, 52, said she disliked the
road but very much enjoyed the area's natural beauty.
"I love Bukit Lawang. I've been staying here for the past
three days. The sights are beautiful and the orangutans are
interesting," said Spurr, who plans to return to Bukit Lawang in
the near future.