Lake Sipin, Jambi\'s New Attraction

KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN

Tourists enjoy the atmosphere of Lake Sipin in Jambi City, Sunday (9/2/2020).

Lake Sipin and the Gentala Arasy Bridge located in the heart of Jambi city have become the pride of Nurhadi (35). He no longer frets about finding a recreation location when guests come to visit him to see the city.

In a meeting on Monday (17/5/2021), Nurhadi was visibly excited. "If guests want to be accompanied for a walk, we just need to take them to Lake Sipin, then to the Gentala Arasy Bridge to cross the Batanghari River," he said.

Up until six or seven years ago, Jambi was a quiet city and did not attract tourists. People would come to the capital city of Jambi province only for work or business trips.

At the time, if you wanted to travel, you had to go quite far outside the city, such as to the Muaro Jambi Temple, which is 45 kilometers from Jambi city. The trip to the temple, which is located in Muaro Jambi regency, took two hours from Jambi city, because the road was not in good condition.

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If tourists wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Mount Kerinci, they needed around 10 hours to travel 450 kilometers.

Jambi’s face-lift began around 2015. At the end of Hasan Basri Agus’s governorship, Gentala Arasy Bridge was built across the Batanghari River.

This 503-meter-long bridge connects the center of Jambi city with the Seberang area. A walk across the bridge will bring tourists to the batik craft center and the santri old town. At the same time, Jambi Mayor Syarif Fasha developed Lake Sipin as a tourist destination. The lake, which covers an area of 89 hectares in the heart of the city center, is easy to reach.

In the past, Lake Sipin was neglected and became a hotbed for the sales of narcotics. The lake could not be used for fish farming or water transportation, because it was covered by water hyacinth (Echornia crasipes) and kiambang (Salvinia molesta).

The local government also supported the lake development with its own funds.

Fasha then mobilized all elements, from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police (Polri) to civil servants, students and local residents, to clear the lake of water hyacinth and kiambang. Once it was clean, it was easy to develop the lake as a tourist spot, especially since the central government supports it through the embankment program around the lake. The local government also supported the lake development with its own funds.

Lake Sipin has now become a beautiful area. The lake even hosted the 2019 National Rowing Championship. On weekends or holidays, the number of visitors can reach 1,000 people a day. There are about 30 tourist boats that take visitors around the lake. Only in the past year, the number of visitors declined because of the impact of the pandemic.

KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN

Residents routinely collect garbage from SIpin Lake, Jambi City, as seen on Sunday (9/2/2020).

Even so, the existence of Lake Sipin is one of the legacies of successful development in Jambi city. Its existence also marks the revival of the city, and this was highlighted during the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Jambi city government and the 620th celebration of Tanah Pilih Pusako Batuah on May 17, 2021.

Syarif Fasha said the theme of this year\'s commemoration was "Rise Together for the Latest Jambi City". "The latest” means the change in Jambi city into an orderly and developed city, with its people becoming more prosperous, competitive, innovative, living more comfortably and having faith. "I invite all of us to improve togetherness. Bringing energy together and working together, "he said.

An economic observer from Batanghari University, Pantun Bukit, praised the local government’s efforts in developing the city in terms of services, tourism and trade centers. This is quite appropriate for the potential of the city, which lacks agricultural products but has good prospects in the three sectors. "About 40 percent of the local economy is contributed by the service sector," he said.

In terms of growth, Jambi City\'s performance is fairly good. The city’s economic growth continued to rise from 5.26 percent in 2018 to 5.33 percent in 2019 and 5.45 percent in 2020.

Lake Sipin, which is already worth a visit, still needs to be equipped with a handicraft and culinary center, so that it can offer a complete tourism package, for tourists to enjoy not only nature but also local handicrafts and cuisine.

However, according to him, Jambi city still needs to strengthen infrastructure in the three sectors. Lake Sipin, which is already worth a visit, still needs to be equipped with a handicraft and culinary center, so that it can offer a complete tourism package, for tourists to enjoy not only nature but also local handicrafts and cuisine.

People’s market

In the service and trade sectors, Pantun said the city government had built many markets, but many of them could not operate as expected due to poor management. Traders were reluctant to sell at the new markets, because they were not built in key locations. Some of the new markets remain quite until now. Many traders still prefer selling in the old markets.

The markets have not been used as centers of souvenirs and local cuisine or handicraft produced by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), even though such markets are seen as a way support the growth of the local economy.

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For example, Pasar Beringharjo in Yogyakarta is a shopping center for local handicraft, as are the Kuta Art Market in Bali and Jl. Cihampelas in Bandung.

According to Pantun, the people\'s markets that have been built in Jambi city still focus on sales of vegetables and basic goods and have not yet accommodated MSMEs. This can be seen from the increase in traders on the sidewalks in Kotabaru or in Telanaipura.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

The atmosphere of Beringharjo Market, Yogyakarta, Sunday (28/3/2021).

On the other hand, modern supermarkets and minimarkets continue to flourish. If the growth of the modern market is not controlled, their presence would kill MSMEs.

Therefore, the city government needs to build clusters or special markets for MSMEs. "So, if people ask about tourist attractions, souvenir centers and typical culinary centers of Jambi City, we will no longer be confused about where to take them," he said.

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).