This is a pic taken during my biking trip last month to my parents’ hometown of Maninjau, West Sumatera. The lake, situated in an elevated mountainous terrain, is located 70km (a 3-hour drive) to the northwest of the capital city, Padang.
The view is breathtaking and this is absolutely a heavenly place for biking. The air is very clean and cool also. Temperatures could drop down to 17'c at night, and rise still to a cool 21'c in the sunlight.
Each breath feels as though your lungs are being cleansed of all the dirt and germs accumulated from Jakarta’s polluted air.
But unfortunately despite all its natural beauties, Maninjau has seen little progress over the years. I remember visiting the place in the 1980's. There were so many western tourists in the area, enjoying the lake and its surroundings.
I had come there again several times in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, and overtime I noticed a gradual decline in the number of tourists coming there.
The hotels that sprung up in the 1980s now look like ghost hotels with very few guests. Let alone jet ski rentals, it’s even hard to find a bike rental there now.
In fact I reckon if we take out the handful of new luxury houses in the area (which probably belonged to the local men and women who made successful livings in the big cities), GDP growth in the region has probably been negative.
Of course the devastating earthquake which happened there in 2009 did heavily impact the local economy. But the decline in tourism actually started way before that. I couldn’t find tourism data specific for Maninjau, but BPS data for West Sumatera does show a decline in foreign tourists staying in (non-rated) local hotels (the kinds you find in Maninjau).
According to some locals, the flux of western tourists (often wearing scantily clad bikinis) was not welcomed by the conservative village elders in the area.
Not to mention the cleanliness of the lake has also been badly preserved. Whereas 10 - 20 years ago the water was fresh and clean, now it is brownish and rather filthy. One reason was that local fishermen have been throwing in fish food that contains polluting chemicals.
It is just unfortunate that the local government didn’t do enough to stop a foreseen environmental degradation in one of the province's biggest landmark. Just what have they been busy with?
Now with the tourists all gone, life looks tough for many of the locals. Some youths can be seen extorting small change from cars passing by the area (a sight I didn’t see in the 1980s). Others I saw playing guitar in the warungs, and sometimes they shout offensive words when a non-local (like me) passes by.
Having personal ties with this place, I feel saddened to see all the tourism potential of Maninjau going to waste. But hey it’s just one of the many realities of 21st century Indonesia. Governments are expert in mismanagement and negligence. Those in office only care about one thing: recuperating money spent during their elections.
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