Fish market lures tourists despite the pungent odors

Fish market lures tourists despite the pungent odors

JAKARTA (Antara): Just like other large cites in the world, Jakarta, in addition to having modern, shiny buildings, also has other dirtier and smellier places. But such places can attract tourists.

The fish market in Muara Angke, North Jakarta, is one such place. It always gives off an offensive smell of fish because it is here that fish are auctioned to be re-sold at traditional markets all over Jakarta, or to be neatly packed and later sold to supermarkets.

This area is active 24 hours a day; the fish auction is at its busiest at midnight. Despite the overpowering smell of fish, this market is never void of visitors.

Tourists can take their pick from the fresh fish sold from special tanks and then take them to nearby restaurants to have them roasted. They have to wait for only about half an hour before they can enjoy the roasted fish. Besides being roasted, the fish can also be used in various traditional dishes.

"It is nice to eat roasted fresh fish. The trouble is the place is slightly dirty and full of smoke ... ," a visitor said.

The fish market is understandably full of smoke, and the restaurants also look slightly dirty because they are managed without much attention paid to certain aspects of cleanliness and sanitation. Nevertheless, visitors do enjoy the roasted fish although the thick smoke in the area can make some of them cry.

Yet the place is popular among Jakarta residents from all walks of life, including celebrities and politicians.

A few days before the presidential election Abdurrahman Wahid had dinner with Amien Rais, speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, and other politicians in the fish market.

This fish market is only one of the traditional tourist centers which still manages to lure visitors. Although tourism in Jakarta has been unfavorably affected by the country's heated political situation recently, people keep coming to the fish market.

As the country's capital, Jakarta is full of the hope of those who have decided to try their luck here. As a melting pot Jakarta has its own uniqueness, with its population of 10 million people hailing from an assortment of ethnic groups from across the archipelago.

Jakarta is an attraction in its own right among tourists, as it is full of shopping sites, from sidewalks to supermarkets.

Although Jakarta is known as a cosmopolitan city, the mixture between traditional and modern elements is quite obvious. Home to people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, Jakarta has huge potential to be turned into a tourist destination: It boasts a number of sites of tourist interest, amongst others the Marunda fishermen's village, the Betawi village in Condet and the historical Sunda Kelapa harbor.

Unfortunately, like the other tourist sites in Jakarta, the fish market in North Jakarta has not been adequately promoted, or perhaps it has never been promoted at all.

Tourists and Jakarta residents who know about this area, where they can enjoy the delicious taste of roasted fish, know only by word of mouth. Nevertheless, this place is always crowded with visitors.

As a tourist destination, Jakarta, with about 30,000 rooms in star-rated hotels, must tap its quite vast tourism potential such as this market. In fact, increased tourist levels would benefit the traditional fishermen, the fish business itself as well as the restaurant owners.

If the tourism concept of "from the people, by the people and for the people", is better implemented, a real contribution will be made to the community. They will support the tourism drive, which will in turn support the fish vendors and fishermen, many of whom continue to live close to the poverty line.