To Accelerate the Development, West Manggarai Regent Invited FEM IPB
West Manggarai regency is still one of the districts left behind economically when compared to other districts in Indonesia. Large proportions of the population depend on agriculture for a living. Various local community groups in different parts of the regency work to promote the local tourist industry through, for example, the development of local dance troupes and foods from local areas. The regency's capital is the town of Labuan Bajo, it is once a small fishing village, Labuan Bajo in Flores is now a busy bustling center of tourism. It is the launching point for trips to Komodo Island and Rinca Island, home to the famous Komodo dragons. Labuan Bajo, despite having a well-known tourist destination in the international arena, tourism does not reduce unemployment and alleviate poverty in West Manggarai. Many tourism jobs are potentially quite accessible to the poor as they require relatively few skills and little investment. Poverty rates of this regency is 20%. Therefore, an integrated development strategy is really needed in encouraging the development of other sectors in accordance with local potentials to accelerate development in West Manggarai, for enhancing the ability of the poor to participate in and benefit from growth.
The condition was expressed during the meeting between the team of experts from the Department of Management, of the Faculty of Economics and Management of Bogor Agricultural University (FEM IPB), with the Regent of West Manggarai and Heads of Service at the office of West Manggarai Regent. The team of experts of FEM IPB were Dr. Alim Slamet Setiawan, Farida Ratna Dewi, Annisa and Nesti Handayani. During which they, presented the results of their potential survey conducted throughout December 2017 in all sub-districts of West Manggarai Regency.
In his presentation, Alim explained that since the establishment of Komodo Island in West Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) as one of the ten major national tourism areas, both domestic and foreign tourist visits have increased sharply in the last two years and will be a trend in median years. This increase, he argues, provides opportunities and challenges for other sectors in the context of regional development to support the growth rate in the tourism sector.
Based on the results of a survey conducted by the IPB team, the increasing number and average length of stay of tourists requires adequate supply of agricultural products, plantations, farms and fisheries. The challenge is the readiness of local governments, business actors and human resources in West Manggarai itself to respond and meet these needs, so that tourism can become the driving force of the economy of other sectors. Tourism, unusually, is an activity which brings the consumers to the producers. The interaction between tourists and poor communities can provide a number of intangible and practical benefits. Despite turbulent times for the world’s economy, these basic facts are unlikely to change.
In fact, West Manggarai regency has the potential of natural resources, soil fertility, agroclimate and topography that support the development of agriculture in a broad sense. This region is considered as the most fertile area in the province. The area is wide and such fertile farms, has coffee plantations that stretched in almost the territory, and has a high rainfall. For agriculture for example, West Manggarai Regency is known as one of the rice granaries in the province of NTT. Vegetable commodities and fruits of both highlands and lowlands are also potentially developed in this area. The plantation sector produces coconut, cloves, cocoa, vanilla and Manggarai coffee which are well known.
Unfortunately, the potential is still not optimally developed. Therefore the Regent of West Manggarai, Drs. Augustine Ch. Dula said she was eager to cooperate with IPB as the largest agricultural university in Indonesia to jointly develop West Manggarai.
In the special meeting between the team of experts of IPB, the Regent requested that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) be immediately signed between the West Manggarai Regency and IPB. "We really hope IPB will help us to accelerate development in West Manggarai regency, because we believe IPB has knowledge and technology for assisting our regency to be more advanced," said Drs. Augustine Ch. Dula.
To respond the request of West Manggarai Regent, the chairman of the Department of Management of FEM IPB, Dr. Mukhamad Najib, said that IPB is always ready to contribute to the progress of the nation through education, research and community service. "Cooperation with local governments, including with West Manggarai Regent, is part of our dedication as an academic community in encouraging the progress of the regions in Indonesia. Therefore, we are very happy and very open to the request for cooperation as expressed by the Regent, "he explained.
According to Najib, the recommendations made by such meetings with the Regent will be followed up by the signing of cooperation agreement. Najib explained that IPB already has many cooperation agreements with various local governments, so won’t be difficult assignment. "In addition, developing Indonesia from the region is also one of the commitments of our rector, Dr. Arief Satria. Insha Allah in February we will finalize the signing of cooperation agreement, "he said. (Wied)
