ER
CAPPING the number of visitors to climb Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, to 1,200 per day is inevitable. The rate at which the stones at the Buddhist temple are wearing off has significantly has increased in these years due to visitors thronging the temple daily.
Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno stated that this does not imply that visitors are damaging (the temple), but each time a visitor climbs the Borobudur, the temple stones will wear away.
Limiting the number of visitors allowed to climb the temple to 1,200 per day, or 400-500 thousand visitors annually, is within the temple’s capability to cater to tourists in the super-priority tourism destination.
Uno noted that to maintain the longevity of the temple structure, the tourism destination operator has also provided special sandals that visitors must wear before climbing Borobudur. The temple is (a testament) of our civilization, it is our heritage, and is inherited by our ancestors. We must also ensure that Borobudur will be an environmentally friendly (tourism) destination.
Moreover, the minister clarified that the government will reconsider the new entry fee, which was decried by members of the public as unaffordable after earlier being announced by Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. [photo special]
