President Jokowi Inaugurates Arrangement of Huta Siallagan Area, Huta Raja Ulos Village

President Jokowi inaugurates Huta Siallagan area arrangement in Samosir regency, North Sumatra province, Wednesday (02/02). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/Laily Rachev)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Wednesday (02/02) inaugurated the arrangement of Huta Siallagan area in Samosir regency, North Sumatra province.

In his remarks, the President expressed appreciation for the arrangement as the area that is now more interesting, neatly arranged, and classy.

“I am thankful that today I can see that Huta Siallagan and its surrounding environment have been revitalized and rearranged so we hope that this restoration can be a very interesting, well-arranged, and classy tourist destination, in addition to conserving customs and culture,” he said.

In 2019, the President and First Lady Iriana Jokowi also visited Huta Siallagan.

According to the President, before the revitalization, the area was full of modern buildings.

“The area around Huta Siallagan used to be full, dense with modern houses,” he said, adding that based on the data from Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, the arrangement of Huta Siallagan area with a total of 11,000 square meters was conducted from 2020 to 2021 with a budget of Rp30 billion.

The arrangement consisted of several scopes of work, including revitalization of existing traditional North Sumatran Bolon houses and arrangement of bolon house extension, new bolon houses, souvenir shops, Trial Stones (relics of a set of stone chairs and a table used for trials in the village), traditional sopo anting granary, and other supporting facilities and infrastructure.

On that occasion, President Jokowi also gave direct cash assistance to souvenir merchants in Huta Siallagan area.

“Thank you to Bapak President for the assistance that we received. I hope I can use it to develop my business, buy items so that the store where I work can be better to support my children who are still in school,” Herka Siallagan, one of ulos (traditional North Sumatran handwoven textile) merchants in the area said.

During this working visit, President Jokowi also inspected and inaugurated the arrangement of Huta Raja Ulos Village in Samosir regency.

The President also expressed hope that the arrangement of Huta Raja Ulos Village can help the Government to maintain and preserve the national heritage.

“I hope that with this revitalization, our heritage in Huta Raja Ulos Village can be conserved properly,” he said, adding that the arrangement of this area began when he visited it in 2019.

On that occasion, the Head of State also ordered Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono to rearrange the area to become an interesting cultural tourist destination.

“When was the last time I came here? Two and a half years ago, I came here. [Compared to back then,] it is truly visible that the arrangement is excellent,” he said while expressing appreciation to all parties who have given their support in arranging the ulos village.

“I am very thankful for everyone and regional governments to have supported this revitalization and everything that Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing have done,” he remarked.

For the record, the arrangement of Huta Raja Ulos Village with a total area of 16,000 square meters was carried out from 2020 to 2021 with a budget of Rp25.8 billion.

The scopes of work in the area arrangement, among others, were revitalization of Bolon house roofs; construction of new Bolon houses, information center, culture gallery, and souvenir center; and arrangement of cemetery fence, amphitheater/plaza, coffee shop, and public toilet. (TGH/FID/UN) (DH/EP)