President Urges Kalimantan Residents to Revive Marine Tourism

Pontianak, West Kalimantan (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo has urged the residents of Kalimantan to revive marine tourism as an economic resource and transportation facility.

He spoke of this during the inauguration of the "Karnaval Khatulistiwa" (Equator Carnival) 2015 on Saturday, reminding the people in attendance that Indonesia has always had a rich water culture.

"Let us revive water tourism together in Pontianak. With that in mind and by saying "bismillahirrrahmanirrahim," I officially declare open the Equator Carnival," he said during his speech delivered from a podium built on the bank of the Kapuas river.

A parade of 100 boats was staged at the event, along with other attractive performances.

Thousands of people crowded the river bank, with many of them cheering from the Saleh Abdur Rahman mosque to welcome the President.

Widodo said he was glad that he could be among the people of Pontianak to personally see how rich Indonesia's water culture was.

"In view of that I wish you would preserve this culture. Rivers and water must be preserved so that they remain clean and no one should dump waste in them. Do you agree?" the President asked the people, who responded with a resounding "agree".

"Use river waters as an economic source and for transportation like we are seeing now," the President said drawing an applause from the crowd.

The carnival, which is being held to mark the 70th anniversary of Indonesia's independence, drew 4,073 people and included a parade 251 water floats, 100 ornamental old bicycles and 50 motor vehicles. (WDY)