Mount Rinjani to Have Cable Car

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Great news for nature-loving travelers who might not be too fond of actually hiking. The Mount Rinjani area will have a new facility: cable car.

PT Indonesia Lombok Resort will be partnering with an investor from China to build a 10-kilometer of round-trip ropeways for cable cars, allowing visitors to have a bird's eye view of the Segara Anak Lake. 

The cable cars will connect the community forest park (Tahura) of Karang Sidemen in Central Lombok and the West Plawangan, which is the edge of Segara Anak Lake, located within the protected forest area of West Rinjani. On foot, it takes 3 to 4 hours of hiking between those two points.

"Tourists who are interested [in riding the cable car] can continue climbing to the lake and camp," West Nusa Tenggara's Environment and Forestry Office chief Madani Mukarom said.

The Governor of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Zulkieflimansyah has met with the prospective investors in mid-January. "Hopefully this plan can come true soon, so that those who are unable to climb can still enjoy the beauty of Rinjani from above," he said.

However, the plan is met with rejection from the province's Regional Executive of the Environment Forum, Murdani. He believes that Mount Rinjani is a source of life for the people of Lombok Island, and that the area must be preserved. 

Having a cable car will attract more tourists and cause environmental damage by commercial facilities development, he argued.