Wadas Residents Hope Their Area Can Be A Tourist Place

Rodiah/Photo: Antara

PURWOREJO - A number of residents hope that Wadas Village will become a tourism area in Purworejo, Central Java, after the mining of andesite stones so that the village's economy will improve in the future. A Wadas resident who agrees with andesite mining, Rodiah said that apart from benefiting from the land freed by the government, his party hopes that the government will Central and regional governments have transformed ex-mining land into a tourism center. "We hope that the pond created from the mining site will become a tourism area so that we can sell there so that it can be used for future income for our families," he said in Purworejo, Friday, February 18. will mine andesite from Wadas Village, Bener District, Purworejo on an area of 145 hectares for the construction of the Bener Dam. Wadas Village, Bener District, Purworejo Regency, Central Java is now a national concern. Wadas Village will be the location for andesite mining. This material will be used as the foundation for the Bener Dam in Bener District, which is the highest dam in Southeast Asia with a depth of 159 meters.

"If 140 hectares become a tourism location, it is very wide and profitable for us," said Rodiah. However, the number is still limited because the new arrivals are limited to adventure tourists such as trail bike groups. "For them, one young coconut I can sell for Rp. 20,000 per fruit, it's not bad," he said. According to him, with Wadas as a tourism area, tourists who will come the number is much higher. "We can process garden produce and sell young coconuts, sweet potatoes, rice, snacks, durians," he said. get ready to sell, neighbors too. We are happy if there will be a tourism location here," he said. One of the problems that hinders the progress of Wadas Village is the condition of the road that is still narrow from Bener District to the village. Although the distance is between 5-10 kilometers from Bener District, the terrain is tortuous and ups and downs. He hopes that with andesite mining, the road to Wadas Village can be widened. Another Wadas resident, Elmilia Putri (19), a vocational graduate, said that finding work in the current situation is difficult. Therefore, if Wadas Village becomes a large-scale tourism area, it will be easier for her to do entrepreneurship such as making various handicrafts to be marketed to tourists. We, Wadas Village will become a tourism center, so there will be many job vacancies for us," he said. Khanifan, a Wadas resident who has an area of 1,300 square meters, is enthusiastic about mining andesite stones in his village. said Khanifan. He conveyed that some of the funds he would receive from land acquisition would be used to buy land elsewhere. While the other part is for the cost of children's education and to open a business if Wadas Village later becomes a tourism place. "I will open an inn and sell garden products," he said. According to him, so far his only income is from farming. Meanwhile, selling their agricultural products is not easy because the road infrastructure is still limited. sell garden produce," he said.