JAKARTA: Big plans are being made for Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara in the years to come.
President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, said development needed to be hastened so the tourism destination could be ready to host international events, according to The Jakarta Post.
The president was in Labuan Bajo, the gateway to the popular Komodo National Park, on a two-day visit with some cabinet ministers since Monday and had discussed the development of the area into a “super premium” tourist destination to lure more foreign visitors.
“We need to improve everything in here, including the infrastructure and the landscape.
“There are also waste problems and clean water issues that we should tackle.
“We should work hard so that by 2021, the Tourism Ministry can start promoting the island,” Jokowi said in a statement from the State Palace.
“We also want to prepare Labuan Bajo (to host) the G20 (Summit) in 2023 and the Asean Summit in 2023.”
He noted that Indonesia was slated to hold the presidency of the G20 or Group of Twenty, and the chairmanship of Asean or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2023.
During his visit, Jokowi presented land certificates to residents and told them that the government planned to upgrade Labuan Bajo to accommodate more international tourists who would bring economic growth and welfare for the local people.
“I request (residents) living around Labuan Bajo to be ready. Be friendly to tourists and please don’t litter. We need such preparedness in Labuan Bajo,” he said.
Jokowi also highlighted the waste problems both on land and the sea.
He said the Public Works and Housing Ministry needed to develop an incinerator to manage the trash retrieved from the sea and landfills, calling on the local government to educate residents about better waste management.
The president also asked Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya to establish a nursery to produce around five to seven million trees each year so that the ecosystem in Labuan Bajo could be preserved.
“We hope tourists will spend more money and stay longer here. It will no longer be about the number of tourists, but the amount of money they splurge when in the area,” he said.
Jokowi’s administration singled out Labuan Bajo as one of the government’s five super-priority destinations as part of its efforts to make the tourism industry one of the new drivers of economic growth.
He said the government planned to accelerate the development of tourism facilities in Labuan Bajo to attract more visitors, and had asked Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio to apply a quota system for visitors to retain the location’s “super premium” status.