The City Government Of Palembang Invites Investors To Work On Kemaro Island As A Leading Tour

A speedboat passes in front of the pagoda on Kemaro Island, which is located in the middle of the Musi River in Palembang, South Sumatra. (Nila Fu'adi / Antara)

JAKARTa - The Government of Palembang City, South Sumatra Province, has invited domestic and foreign investors to work on Kemaro Island to become a leading tourist destination.

Mayor of Palembang Harnojoyo in Palembang, South Sumatra, Saturday, said that the island, which is located in the Musi River delta, has an attraction to be developed into a tourist location because it has a wider area than the Taman Impian Jaya Ancol tourist area, Jakarta.

"Kemaro Island has an area of 25 hectares, while Ancol is only 22 hectares. This means that if investors want to develop there is sufficient space to be creative, "he said.

He said the Palembang City Government had a concept for the development of these tourist destinations, namely by adopting the Ancol tourist location, Jakarta.

Later, there will be water rides, hawker centers and lodging. So far, there have been several bungalow units in that location.

"In the near future we will build a bridge so that there are alternatives by road," he said.

Apart from continuing to promote this area to investors, the Palembang City Government will also approach the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy so that this area becomes a priority tourist destination for development in the near future.

Then, the city government will also involve BUMD and BUMN to participate in completing the facilities and infrastructure on the Kemaro Island.

So far, Kemaro Island is only busy during the annual Cap Goh Meh celebration with tourist visits reaching 40,000 people.

Meanwhile, the General Chair of the Palembang City Environmental Social Responsibility Forum (TJSL) Harrey Hadi said that for the development of the water tourism center, the city government will use corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds from state-owned enterprises such as Angkasa Pura, Pelindo, Pusri, Pertamina, and PLN.

"Of course we do not only use APBD funds, but also need investor support because it takes around IDR 1.4 trillion, starting from building apartments, culinary hawker centers, children's water rides, resorts, and others," he said.