Transforming Swamp into Tourism Magnet
The swamps in Pendung Talang Genting village have been transformed into a popular tourism site.
Pertiwi Pool Garden in Pendung Talang Genting village, Kerinci Lake district, Kerinci regency, Jambi province.
The swamps in Pendung Talang Genting village have been transformed into a popular tourism site. The village earns up to Rp 100 million (US$7,300) a month. Jobs are created and locals lead independent lives.
Before, people were reluctant to go to the swamps surrounded by forest in Pendung Talang Genting village, Kerinci Lake district, Kerinci regency, Jambi province.
Local legends abound that people were thrown alive into the swamps and drowned during the colonial era. This is why locals used to stay away from the swamps.
These days, however, the “haunted” swamps have been transformed into a popular tourism site. Its bushes have been replaced with gardens of flowers in various colors. Many attractions are provided, including cable bikes, flying fox zip lines and swan boats.
The tourism site is now named Pertiwi Pool Garden. It was opened in late December 2017 but it has attracted more than 1,000 travelers a day.
Among these tourists were Yaya, 4, and her friends who visited in late January. Yaya laughed heartily as dozens of goldfish and tilapias snatched the fish pellets that she had just thrown into the pool. The more pellets she threw, the more fish came.
Nearby, a number of visitors were pedaling in their swan boats and others were taking selfies.
Tourism is blooming at Pertiwi Pool Garden because of effective use of the village fund. Pendung Talang Genting village head Usman, 60, still remembers how deserted the location was until recently. The swamps surrounded by forest sit on a 10-hectare plot of village land and was used to deposit factory waste during the Dutch colonial era a century ago.
Half a kilometer away, there was an old, dilapidated building. The complex was once a ceramic factory belonging to the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Some also said it was either a Dutch coffee factory or fort.
Kerinci Lake has become a major tourist attraction in Kerinci regency, Jambi. The lake is surrounded by hilly areas that line the length of Sumatra Island.
Poor village
When he was appointed village head in 2015, Usman pledged to improve the locals’ welfare. Pendung Talang Genting had been one of the poorest village’s in Jambi. The unemployment rate was high. Some 10 percent of the village’s 2,154 residents were unemployed.
As Usman walked by the swamps, he saw its huge potential. He had an idea to open a fishing pond there. If fish cultivation became successful, all villagers would reap benefits from it.
Usman then asked other villagers to establish a village-owned enterprise (BUMDes) to manage the fishing pond as a tourism site.
However, the locals were pessimistic because of the swamps’ spooky reputation. Usman needed to convince the villagers many times.
With nothing but his guts, he used the village fund in 2016 to create a fishing pond in the swamps. Usman proposed to receive fish seedling assistance from the Jambi provincial administration. In the same year, Pendung Talang Genting village received 60,000 fish seedlings. Governor Zumi Zola participated in sowing the seedlings.
A few months later, the swamps had turned into a busy place. Some came to fish and others just to enjoy a relaxing walk. Seeing the increasing number of visitors, Usman planned to develop the swamps as a tourism destination.
Of the Rp 770 million village fund the village obtained in 2017, Rp 500 million was allocated to improve the swamps as a tourism site. An embankment was constructed on a one-hectare part of the Pertiwi Pool Garden. The bushes around the pool were replaced by flowers.
Next, several attractions were built, including cable bikes, a flying fox zip line, swan boats and selfie spots. Relaxations spots, food shops and parking areas were also built.
The village’s BUMDes management head Abdul Basit said the tourism business was built with hard work. The business is managed mostly by youths working as volunteers. They all realize that it needs at least three years before the business becomes profitable.
As time goes by, the Pertiwi Pool Garden gets more beautiful and has become a tourist magnet. On New Year’s Day, for instance, around 5,000 travelers visited the site, which earned the village around Rp 1 million a month. Income is generated from parking fees of Rp 5,000 for cars and Rp 3,000 for motorbikes and from the attractions’ entrance fees. Entering the park itself is free.
Manpower
Tourism has created hundreds of jobs, including in managing the BUMDes, taking care of the garden and managing the food stalls. The BUMDes now hires 24 young people as garden managers with a salary of up to Rp 1.5 million a month.
More than 30 food shops have been established in the garden. Only locals are allowed to set up shop there, in line with the spirit of using the pool garden to create jobs for locals.
The BUMDes also manages a village bank, where locals can open savings accounts and conduct transactions.
The development is far from finished. Of the total 10 hectares of village land, only two hectares are developed – one hectare each for fish pond and garden, attractions and parking area. The plan is to use the other eight hectares for a hilltop homestay that overlooks the Pertiwi Pool Garden and an orchard.
Nationwide since 2015, Rp 127 trillion of the fund has been disbursed by the central government to build 74,000 villages throughout the country through the village fund scheme. Not all turned out to be a success. Pendung Talang Genting is among the successful ones in using the village fund to increase locals’ welfare.
If the central government decides to stop the village fund disbursement, Pendung Talang Genting would not be concerned. “Our village is now independent,” Usman said.
