President Orders Ministers, Governors, and Regents to Seek a Solution Over the Issues of Lake Toba

President Joko Widodo leads a Limited Meeting on Lake Toba Tourist Destination on the sidelines of his working visit to North Sumatera.

President Joko Widodo felt very happy seeing the synergy between the Acting Governor of North Sumatera and the regents surrounding Lake Toba in preparing Lake Toba as a priority tourist destination.

“I ask regents, governors, as well as ministers to deliver the problems as well as solutions. I already knew the problems at the meeting in the palace, but what about the solutions? So that I can directly give instruction to the ministers to solve it,” the President said when opening a limited meeting at Niagara Hotel, Simalungun Regency, North Sumatera, on Tuesday (1/3) afternoon.

The President mentioned one of the preparation is to develop Silangit Airport. The terminal is revonated and the runway is extended so that it can accomodate a Boeing aircraft. “At the end of this March, there will be three Garuda flights to Toba,” the President affirmed.

The President expected that the expansion and extension of the runway and terminal will be finished at the end of the year. Nevertheless, Angkasa Pura has promised the renovation will be finished by  September 2016.

“I want it to be fast because we want to rebrand Lake Toba. Conduct more promotion and restart everything for a rebranding,” the President said.

Lake Toba is expected to be a tourist destination that is worth to visit not only by domestic tourists but also by foreign tourists.

The Limited Meeting was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono, Acting Governor of North Sumatera Tengku Erry Nuradi, and the regents surrounding Lake Toba. (DND/SLN)(MMB/YM/Naster)