Kendari Bay a New Tourism Magnet

A former slum area on the waterfront of Kendari Bay, Southeast Sulawesi, has transformed into a rejuvenated public space that attracts visitors.

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

Kendari Bay is one of the people's choices for sightseeing in the city, as seen on Wednesday (24/1/2023). The arrangement of Kendari Bay has been continuously carried out in recent years, and attempts to make this bay area the front yard of the city.

Serenity reigned on Tuesday afternoon (24/1/2023) at Lapulu, Abeli ​​district, Kendari, as Yusmin, 30, and Uci, 27, were indulging in time by the bay. They took pictures with several backdrops at the location, whose rejuvenation work was completed last month.

It had never crossed the mind of those two housewives that a waterfront area of the bay could have become what it is today. They held back from visiting the Lapulu area for years before it became an appealing public space.

“This place used to be a point [used by people] to cross to the Old City on a raft. People called it Pappalimba. That was when I was in elementary school. This place was completely different back then,” Yusmin said.

“It used to be filthy here. So I would never come here,” Uci said.

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It has now become an attractive area to visit, and the number of visitors usually grows in the afternoon, the time Yusmin and Uci visited that day. They said they also learned about the area’s rejuvenation from social media. Finding time, they drove from their residence in Nambo, about three kilometers from Lapulu.

The designated Pappalimba Puday-Lapulu green space (RTH), which covers 15 hectares, completed its rejuvenation in December last year and is now equipped with various facilities for activities.

Next to where Yusmin and Uci stood was the sea water along a beachfront area. Several children were seen playing on nearby steps, some of them going down into the water. A number of fishermen were either repairing their wooden boats or simply tidying up to set out to sea. Several ships were anchored in the middle of the bay.

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

The Puday-Lapulu Green Open Space which has just been built has become a new magnet for the community to spend time, as seen on Tuesday (23/1/2023)..

Across the bay is the hilly Old City along another stretch of the waterfront. Rows of residential houses are visible with urban activities on the streets. The Kendari Bay Bridge, which has become the city's new icon, is on the right side, from which people can take glimpses of the hustle and bustle in the province’s capital city.

The Lapulu green public space got busier toward evening. Visitors came along with family members, by themselves or in groups. Some used the occasions as special moments to share with special companions. Some were around simply to enjoy the serene atmosphere, do stretches or just take pictures. At one corner, a number of women were cheerfully doing stretches together.

Bowo, 45, one of the visitors, sat on a ladder, which connects the beach edge with the water fringe. He was tending to his child, Bayu, 3, merrily playing on the steps by the water. After playing around in the water for a while, he rose up, his clothes getting drenched.

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Local people who live next to the public space say they are grateful that Lapulu has become a rejuvenated, spacious green environment and a new place to play for children and for parents to relax.

“Comparing today with the past, [I can say it is totally different] like the heaven and earth. It was dirty and filthy, especially on the incoming tide. Trash was everywhere," Bowo said.

For decades, the surroundings used to be a slum area with inhabitants recklessly dumping garbage into the sea.

Revitalization

For years, the waters of Kendari Bay used to look like a disorganized dirty backyard. Next to the green public space is the densely inhabited Lapulu, which is a fish producing, processing and marketing center.

People used to be heedless about protecting the environment before the local government launched the revitalization project to transform the seaside area into what it is today.

Around one kilometer away, the Talia green public space has also been developed. The area, where Jembatan Kuning is located, which also used to be a slum, is getting refurbished. The public space has its bay-bordering yard well laid out.

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

The Puday-Lapulu Green Open Space has become a new magnet for the community to spend time, as seen on Tuesday (23/1/2023)..

On the other side of the bay, the Tipulu area and its vicinity around the Old City have also experienced revitalization. A spacious platform has been built with a number of facilities, ranging from playgrounds to a waterwheel.

Fira, 25, a local resident who spent the afternoon at the new platform, said she was enthused by the changes, seeing newly built public spaces with various facilities in place. She said the government had provided the people with a new, affordable place to visit at the center of the city.

“The important thing is to keep it clean. There's still a lot of trash," she said.

The city’s restructuring concept has capitalized on the potential of the bay which Kendari acting Mayor Asmawa Tosepu said was very valuable and uniquely different from other regions in Indonesia. He said the administration had resolved to use the bay as a public space to bring economic, ecological and tourism benefits.

“This bay is right in the heart of the city and must be optimized. The direction [of development] is to optimize the utilization of the bay with its various potentials. We continue to build new public spaces, either with the regional budget or the central government’s aid," he said.

It is time to put Kendari Bay back as a shared yard and build it together.

Annas Maruf, head of the housing and regional settlement laboratory at Halu Oleo University’s School of Engineering, said that the emergence of new public spaces on the waterfront broke the "barrier" between the marine area and the mainland.

Given the fact that the bay area was seen as an entity disjointed from the land filled with housing settlements over the years, Annas said the revitalization work was expected to bring awareness among the people that the bay and the marine area were not their "backyards" where they could dump garbage recklessly.

“It is time to put Kendari Bay back as a shared yard and build it together. It can't be left solely to the municipal government, provincial government or other agencies. There must be a sustainable collective efforts," he said.

This article was translated by Musthofid.