BADUY LAND NEEDS PROMOTIONS TO ATTRACT FOREIGN TOURISTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 16 (Antara) - The culture tourism in the land of the Baduy Tribe who still live in virgin forests in Banten Province needs to be further developed and promoted to attract foreign tourists.          Located some 40 km southeast of Serang, provincial capital of Banten, the Baduy Land covers 5,100 hectares and is populated by about 5,000 to 6,000 isolated Baduy tribesmen.          The uniqueness of the Baduy tribe is its firmness in upholding their ancestors' traditions and its rejection of all kinds of modern life, despite the fact that the Land of Banduy is not far from the metropolitan city of Jakarta and Bandung, where modernity is gaining fast progress.          The Land of Baduy is therefore has the potential to be cultivated and developed as a culture tourism, without the need to change or disturb the way of life of the Baduy people.          For instance,  the tourism site of the isolated Baduy tribe in the Kendeng mountainous area, Leuwidamar Subdistrict, Banten, can become an international tourism destination and attract foreign tourists if properly developed.

GOVT TAKES SPEEDY ACTIONS OVER STARVING ISOLATED TRIBE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 12 (Antara) - The death of 11 isolated forest tribesmen due to starvation has prompted the government to take speedy actions to safeguard 3,850 forest people living in Bukit Duabelas National Park in Jambi Province, Sumatra.          "The government will act fast and gather data needed for providing solutions to the problem being faced by  the isolated tribal community in Jambi," Hartono Laras, the director general of the Social Empowerment and Poverty Handling Affairs of the Ministry of Social Affairs, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.          It was reported earlier that thousands of forest people living in Bukit Duabelas National Park of Sarolangun-Batanghari District, Jambi Province, have been starving due to lack of food.          Manager of the People's Empowering Program of the Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI Warsi) Robert Aritonang remarked that forest people, also locally known 'Kubu'or 'Suku Anak Dalam' (SDA) or 'Orang Rimba,' were facing food shortage after some companies have cleared land in their forests to plant oil palms.