Ternate Hopes Legu Gam Will Bring Back Glory

Ternate - The Sultanate of Ternate is looking to restore past glories and again place itself firmly on the world map with this year`s Legu Gam, or public celebration, from April 18 to May 3.

In conjunction with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the island and town of Ternate in North Maluku Province hopes Legu Gam would help preserve its culture and tourism, as well as promote the island as a tourist destination.

Sultan Mudaffar Sjah said this year`s festival, the seventh, had attracted Rp 2 billion ($176,000) in support from the private sector and Rp 800 million from the government and was sure to build on the increasing popularity of the event.

“We are going to make a great celebration in the center of the city for two weeks and it will be filled with North Maluku`s art, music, crafts, paintings, poetry and cuisine,” he said.

The celebration is part of Visit Indonesia Year 2009.

Sultana Ratu Nita Budhi said Legu Gam also aimed to unite all of the 29 ethnic groups under four sultanates, or ceremonial kingdoms, in the province. “Through Legu Gam, we prove that we can unite and put aside all of our individual differences,” she said.

“We will use Legu Gam as a medium to show people that even though we are in the eastern part of Indonesia and far from the central government, we are not left behind,” she said. “This is the time that Indonesian tourism shifts to the east,” she said.

Legu Gam also supports the “go green” campaign by giving 25,000 plants such as mahogany and nutmeg trees to residents and tourists.

Sapta Nirwandar, the Tourism Ministry`s director of marketing, said it fully supports the festival as it would boost the country`s tourism and helps preserve culture.

From a commodity perspective, Sapta said that Ternate was important. “The sultanates of Ternate and Tidore have been famous since the seventeenth century as it has become the center of spices such as cloves and nutmeg,” he said, adding that the island now has 10 hotels and inns that could accommodate 2,000 people.

The sultana said that the most unique part of the celebration was the fact that the tourists could stay at residents` homes. “A few days before the celebration, we are flooded by demand from tourists so that we have always been cooperating with local residents to provide them with places to stay,” she said.

Ternate is more accessible than few years ago. There are two aviation companies that have direct flights to the city. It takes some three and a half hours to arrive in the city from Jakarta.

People can also reach the city via Manado in North Sulawesi Province, or Ambon in Maluku Province first, before getting a connecting flight. Nurfika Osman

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com (6 April 2009)
Photo: http://www.bkpmd.malutprov.go.id

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