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Government plans to overhaul Borobudur management
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Buddhist stupas are seen at the ancient Borobudur temple in Magelang, Central Java, in this undated photo file. (AFP/Goh Chai Hin)
T
he government has laid out an ambitious plan to revamp the management and facilities of Borobudur temple in Magelang, Central Java, with a primary focus on streamlining bureaucratic red tape that has for years plagued the management of one of the world's greatest Buddhist temples.
Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo would soon publish a regulation to grant InJourney, a state-owned holding company for aviation and tourism, the sole authority to manage Borobudur.
This, Sandiaga said, was hoped to accelerate the ongoing process of developing Borobudur’s facilities, particularly since the government had listed it as a “super priority” tourist destination.
“We hope that [the development of Borobudur] as a super-priority destination would be finished by September 2024 [...] so that [it] could help accelerate the recovery of the tourist sector,” Sandiaga said after attending a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Buoyed by loosened health restrictions as the COVID-19 pandemic eased, the government has set an ambitious target of attracting 8.5 million and 14 million foreign tourists this year and next year, respectively.
Sandiaga also said that Borobudur was hoped to be a hub for Buddhist tourists, particularly since Buddhism is the second-largest religion in the ASEAN region.
The government is planning to improve transportation options going in and out of Borobudur, with a particular focus on developing transportation networks, including toll roads and trains, to travel to the temple from Yogyakarta International Airport, located around 60 kilometers away, according to Sandiaga.
