On The Groundbreaking Of The Rinjani Train, Governor Zulkieflimansyah: NTB Province Is A Complete Tourism Area

The Governor of NTB, Dr Zulkieflimansyah (center) during the groundbreaking ceremony for construction/ANTARA

West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Zulkieflimansyah said the construction of a cable car from Karang Sidemen Village, Central Lombok to Mount Rinjani would increase tourist visits in this province. "The construction of this cable car makes NTB Province a complete tourism area," he said during the Groundbreaking of the Rinjani Train in Praya, Sunday. He said that every new thing, of course, always there are ripples, usually due to a lack of socialization and communication. God willing, the construction of this cable car will showcase the natural beauty in Lombok as seen from above for those who are not strong enough to climb Mount Rinjani. "This project is targeted to be completed by 2025," he said. The governor said this project is a large and long-term investment. Environmental aspects will be utilized as much as possible to support tourism development in NTB and improve people's welfare. "More people will have the opportunity to witness the beauty of our nature. It will be minimized as much as possible due to the environmental damage caused by the presence of this project. We are grateful that it is not even disturbing at all and can even repair it," he said. Regarding the "porter" of Mount Rinjani's climbing which will be disrupted by its livelihoods, he said, God willing, it will not be affected because there are still many climbers, even "porters" can be trained with new skills to be able to adapt to the new environment. "This hanging train will not interfere with the livelihoods of 'porters'," he said. Meanwhile, Central Lombok Regent H Lalu Pathul Bahri said this cable car is an extraordinary investment project for increasing tourism that has been developed by local governments. Moreover, he said, in the southern region there is the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with various events, both MotoGP and WSBK. So on the one hand, with the cable car, tourism will increase. "So in the future supporting access will be our common mind, we will even collaborate with the NTB Provincial Government so that the road to the cable car is widened and we will build various other supporting infrastructure so that everything can run," he said. He admitted that this cable car had become a dream and when viewed from the design of this development, it was extraordinary. This, according to him, will greatly help tourism development and improve the economy of the local community. "For that, at this time the increase in human resources (HR) must be a priority because local human resources must be utilized," he said.