Toba-Samosir on long road to industrialization

Toba-Samosir on long road to industrialization

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Balige, North Sumatra

Toba-Samosir, an economically less developed new regency in North
Sumatra whose population mostly lives in poverty, has no other
alternative than to develop agriculture and tourism to catch up
with natural resources-rich regencies and help improve the well-
being of locals.

The secretary to the local administration, P. Simbolon, said
in an interview with The Jakarta Post here over the weekend that
Toba-Samosir, which was carved out as a new regency from North
Tapanuli regency in 2000, had great potential to develop its
agricultural and tourism sectors under regional autonomy.

"Most people earn their living from traditional agriculture
and cottage industries, while the tourism sector has been
neglected because of a lack of government attention in the past.

"Now, it's time for the regency to wake up in the autonomy
era. The local administration is launching a development program
to diversify agricultural products for export purposes, develop
agribusiness and speed up tourism development so as to increase
economic growth," he said.

The 3,200-square-kilometer regency, which has been part of
modern civilization since the 17th Century saw the arrival of
European Christian missionaries, comprises barren and infertile
mountains, a large lake with Samosir Island in the middle, and
around 4,000 hectares of farmland. Some 350,000 people, mostly
living in rural areas, earn their living from traditional
agriculture. Many high school graduates go on to university in
the provincial capital of Medan or in other provinces because of
the absence of institutes of higher education in the regency.

Simbolon explained that a national businessman was developing
a tea plantation in a mountainous area in the regency, and
several investors had given commitments to putting their money
into export-orientated agribusinesses.

"The development of business networks with prospective
investors in Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and the United
States through bilateral talks with the developed countries will
also accelerate the growth of the tourism sector in the future,"
he said.

The local administration through the central government has
lobbied donor countries to reopen the airport in Sibisa, near
Parapat, and develop it so that it can accommodate wide-bodied
aircraft, thus allowing foreign and domestic tourists to fly in
directly to the Lake Toba tourist destination, he said.

"Toba-Samosir was long been known as a tourist destination
around the world, but former president Soeharto's New Order
regime developed Bali instead, and closed down Sibisa Airport,
which had been built by founding president Sukarno.

"The planned development of the agroindustry and tourism
sectors will certainly provide job opportunities for locals and
revive the real sector, including the restaurant, hotel and
handicraft industries," he said.

Many villages in the regency are devoid of young people as
they have all migrated to Medan, Jakarta, Surabaya and other
urban areas due to a lack of jobs at home.

"The development of the modern industrial sector will
encourage more investors to put their money in the regency,
provide job opportunities for locals and encourage those who have
migrated to other regions to come back home. The main target is
to double annual per capita income from the current Rp 1.6
million to around Rp 3 million over the next decade," he said.

Aden Manurung, a legislator with the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), said the local administration
should be firm about its decision on the planned reopening of PT
Toba Pulp Lestari pulp mill, and review the master agreement on
the giant PT Inalum hydro plant, which draws its water from Lake
Toba, so as to ensure they make a maximum contribution to the
local development program.

"The local security authorities must uphold the government's
decision on the planned reopening of the pulp mill, which will
contribute some Rp 55 billion annually to the local
administration and provide a total of 14,000 jobs for locals.

"The local administration has been pressing PT Inalum to
comply with the master agreement between Japan and Indonesia on
the supply of some two megawatts of its annual power output to
the regency, and the granting of a seat for the regency on the
company's board," he said, adding that Inalum had been violating
the agreement for 17 years and that so far the Asahan Authority
Board, representing the government, had done nothing to ensure
the agreement was complied with.

Aden and Simbolon agreed that the regency administration in
cooperation with locals must be proactive in preserving the local
(Batak) culture and the environment so as to attract more foreign
tourists to the regency.

"We are learning from West Sumatra and Bali on how they have
promoted their culture and preserved their beautiful environments
in order to attract domestic and foreign tourists," said Aden.

He conceded that not many foreign and domestic tourists were
interested in visiting Toba and Samosir Island because of the
environmental degradation around Lake Toba, the lack of
hospitality on the part of locals, and transportation problems.

"We should first love our culture and show our hospitality to
others, as hospitality and politeness are two of the main values
in Batak culture," he said.