Ministry Of Public Works And Housing Manages Besakih Temple Bali

DOC. ANTARA

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) is organizing the sacred area of Great Besakih Temple, Bali, to prepare for the restoration of tourism and increase the comfort of tourists.

"In the new normal order to live in peace with the COVID-19 pandemic, the government believes that the main economic sector that can rebound quickly is tourism," PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said as quoted by Antara, Sunday, May 23.

According to him, this work is a collaboration between the Provincial Government of Bali and the central government, because Besakih Temple is a national asset.

This area is a cultural heritage area in Karangasem Regency, Bali Province. The arrangement of the temple complex area located in Besakih Village is a follow-up to the proposal of the Bali Provincial Government submitted to President Joko Widodo.

In addition to financing through Municipal Budget (APBD), the arrangement of the Besakih Temple area is also financed through the State Budget for the construction of car and bus parking buildings as well as regional work, and kiosk buildings in Bencingah area with a total cost of Rp514.2 billion.

Physical construction activities will be carried out on a multiyear contract starting in 2021 and are expected to be utilized in March 2022, as supporting facilities for tawur labuh gentuh and mrebu gumi ceremonies at Great Besakih Temple. The arrangement of the Besakih Temple area is expected to increase the comfort of devotees to worship as well as the comfort of tourists who visit, considering this ceremony involves Hindus in Bali.

This parking building is built on four floors with a total area of 55,201 square meters. As planned, the parking building will accommodate 1,369 cars, 61 medium buses, and five large buses.

This parking building is expected to overcome problems that arise during the ceremony of worship or at the peak of tourist arrivals that have an impact on congestion due to the large number of public and private vehicles that come. Traffic jams that occur at existing locations to go to or leave the Besakih Temple area can reach tens of kilometers.

Director-General of Copyright of Public Works and Housing Ministry Diana Kusumastuti said not only Muslim places of worship, but also Christians, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucians are the concern of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing.

"The plan to build the sacred area of Besakih Temple will be carried out for two years from 2021 to 2022 with design and build methods. Ground breaking will be done in mid-2021," said Diana.

Meanwhile, Director of Building Planning of Director-General of Copyright Boby Ali Azhari said the planning process until implementation will use building information modelling (BIM).

"The use of BIM to facilitate when there are changes that occur," said Boby.