Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Samosir regency striving to revive tourism sector

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Monday, December 24, 2007

Samosir regency striving to revive tourism sector

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The Samosir regency administration in North Sumatra is striving to promote its agricultural hinterland into a popular tourism attraction and its main source of regional income over the next three years.

Samosir Regent Mangindar Simbolon said that his administration was in the process of mapping the region as part of the effort to develop Samosir Island as a major tourism destination by 2010.

Mangindar said that the plan to promote the tourism sector had been taken based on the location of Samosir regency. Samosir, which is located in the middle of Lake Toba, is believed to be capable of attracting a large number of tourists, he said.

Samosir, a regency with a population of about 131,000, has been focusing on the development of the tourism industry after being hived off from Toba Samosir regency two years ago.

"We will rely on Simanindo, Pusuik Buit and Dewana Runggu districts in the regency as the main tourism agencies," Mangindar told The Jakarta Post recently.

Mangindar said that his administration would take inventories in the three districts to identify their potential and to decide what needed to be done to further develop them.

He said that each of the three districts had its own unique attractions.

Mangindar acknowledged that the development of tourism in Samosir was closely related to the development of tourism at Lake Toba.

"We are determined to develop three sectors that can support each other -- tourism, agribusiness and transportation," he said.

A cooperative venture with six other nearby regencies has been developed with the support of the State Ministry for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions.

Mangindar said he hoped that under the venture, an agency to be named the Lake Toba Tourism Board would be set up in 2008 to manage the tourism sector.

Mangindar, however, expressed concern over a decrease in the number of tourists visiting Lake Toba due to mismanagement.

"I'm sure Lake Toba tourism can be revived and attract more tourists if it is managed professionally by all relevant institutions. And of course, this will increase the regency's revenue," he added.

"That's why we want the board to be managed by independent professionals, not officials of the regional administrations. The regency administrations will just function as the owners," he said.

He expressed the hope that the board would also formulate an appropriate concept for managing tourism at Lake Toba.

"We need to establish collaboration between all the regencies that are connected directly with Toba Lake in order to resolve obstacles hampering tourism development. We also need to cooperate with the private sector to overcome the problems we face," he added.

Meanwhile, Maranti Tobing, chairman of the Samosir chapter of the Indonesian Restaurant and Hotel Association, admitted that both Samosir and Lake Toba had not been managed properly due mainly to a lack of promotion.

He said that almost all parts of Lake Toba were now covered by water hyacinth, locally known as eceng gondok, and widespread fish farming had ruined the lake's tourism potential.

"We need a serious commitment from both the central and local governments to develop tourism in Lake Toba and Samosir," he added.

Mangindar said that Toba Lake would be cleared of the wild eceng gondok, which would be used as raw material in the production of handicrafts. He said that the administration had also approached owners of the fish farms to urge them to move to more appropriate areas.

The regent further said that the Samosir regency administration's budget for 2007 amounted to Rp 313 billion (US$34.70 million), but was unable to say exactly how much of this had been allocated for tourism development.