Borobudur will receive funding from the World Bank

If negotiations go smoothly, the construction process will be effective in July 2017.

Borobudur Temple is one of 10 tourist destinations in Indonesia that will receive a funding injection from the World Bank worth 200 million US dollars.

According to the Assistant Deputy for Industry, Trade, Tourism, and Creative Economy at the Vice Presidential Secretariat, M. Zulkarnain, of the ten destinations covered by the national policy, three will be prioritized: Lake Toba, Borobudur Temple, and Mandalika. This decision was made due to resource constraints.

He continued, as a follow-up, if negotiations run smoothly, the construction process will be effective in July 2017.

"Discussions are ongoing between the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism. The Vice President is acting as the head of the strategic coordination team, and the Minister of Tourism is the daily chair," he said after leading a team from the Vice Presidential Secretariat to visit Borobudur, accompanied by Pujo Suwarno, Director of Borobudur Prambanan Pesona Indonesia, and Marsis Sutopo, Head of the Borobudur Conservation Center, on Thursday (February 9).

He added that his team has now prepared a master plan, focusing on infrastructure development, such as road widening, river basin development, and an airport.

Regarding the airport issue, he said that one way to access it via air is by building Kulonprogo Airport, Yogyakarta, considering that the existing airport, namely Adi Sucipto, is considered to be overloaded.

"We still lag quite far behind in terms of flight access to top tourist destinations. For example, Angkor Wat in Cambodia can be reached directly from Siem Reap with 10 daily flights. Meanwhile, we (Adi Sucipto Airport) only have direct flights from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore," he added.

Meanwhile, the Director of Borobudur Prambanan Pesona Indonesia, Pujo Suwarno, admitted that the Vice President's Secretariat group had directly seen the activities of PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur (TWCB), Prambanan, and Ratu Boko which have synergy with the local government, BUMN, with support from the Borobudur Conservation Center to prepare Borobudur and its area as a flagship.

The party is targeting to complete the project in the first semester of 2017 so that in order to welcome major events in the future, the Village Economic Centers (Balkondes) in 20 locations can be used.

"In addition to visiting Borobudur Temple, the team also visited the Borobudur area, specifically regarding the readiness of Balkondes," he concluded.

Sumber: http://jateng.merdeka.com/wisata/borobudur-bakal-dapat-kucuran-dana-dari-bank-dunia-170209f.html