T

he densely populated Babakan subdistrict in Tangerang, Banten, has decided to undergo a major face lift by going all-in for colorful and artsy exteriors in the hope of becoming a tourist attraction by being the first thematic kampung in the province.

Inspired by the beauty of the other colorful villages in Semarang, Malang in East Java and Yogyakarta, the subdistrict with 265 families wishes to be called “Kampung Berkelir” (colored village) in the future, brightening the poor village with vibrant colors.

Not only will it be as colorful as a rainbow, the Tangerang administration has planned to decorate the village with authorized graffiti and murals that will represent the city’s culture.

The project began on Sunday morning with Tangerang Mayor Arief Rachadiono Wismansyah and some city officials spraying paint for a graffiti design on one of the village’s walls.

“We hope the village will become a new tourist destination and improve the welfare of the residents,” Arief said.

The residents are to paint the façades of their houses with colors chosen by the Babakan administration and the sponsors, PT Pasific Paint, PT Samurai Paint and PT Ace Oldfields, which together allocated about Rp 1 billion (US$ 75,046) for this project as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme.

Art communities from Tangerang, Bogor in West Java, Bandung and Yogyakarta will also assist the residents to paint their houses properly.

The art coordinator of the project, Abdi Sadrax, said the artists would decorate walls in the village with Tangerang-themed murals.

On Sunday afternoon, for instance, the group was drawing two children fishing in the Cisadane River.

On a different side of the village, other artists were drawing one of the dragon boats that often drift along the Cisadane during the celebration of the annual Peh Cun Chinese festival.

“We will paint the walls here with themes appearing in Tangerang culture. On one of the walls we will paint a depiction of local folklore about a white crocodile,” Abdi said.

All 300 houses in the village are expected to be painted by Aug. 20.

Pasific Paint’s country manager, Ricky Soesanto, said that after Aug. 20 the project would continue with the painting of building roofs, streets, flower pots and the mosque.

Meanwhile, the head of the Babakan subdistrict, Abu Sofyan, added that the transformed village would be equipped with Wi-Fi and a bicycle renting facility to attract tourists.

The residents were all encouraged to offer tourists the famous food of the area such as jengkol (dogfruit) chips, nasi ulam (steamed rice mixed with various herbs) and laksa (spicy noodle soup), he said.

Eni, 32, a housewife said she wished the village would attract visitors and improve her family’s welfare.

“I’m happy with this plan. When this project is finished, I hope that more people will buy the gorengan (fried snacks) and meat balls that I sell,” she said.

Another housewife, Rosmi, 42, said she would start selling seblak (crackers cooked with vegetables, eggs and spicy sauce) and gorengan for the tourists once the project was finished so she could earn pocket money for her child.

Meanwhile, Arief said that he hoped other villages in Tangerang would look for their own uniqueness and make themselves thematic villages to boost the economy for the residents.

Despite being located only 100 kilometers from the capital, Banten is still struggling with poverty caused by a corrupt bureaucracy and a long-lasting political dynasty.

The Banten Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that there were 675,000 poor people in the province as of March 2017, representing a poverty rate of 5.45 percent, a 0.09 percent increase compared to the last half of 2016.