The center of creative economy and tourism in Cianjur District, West Java, experienced relatively minimal damage in Monday’s 5.6-magnitude earthquake, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, has said.

“In the creative economy center of Cianjur itself, the damage has been relatively minimal, namely around 5 to 10 percent. For victims (tourism and creative economy players in Cianjur), as of today, we have not been informed about the number. We will continue to monitor,” he said here on Thursday.

Apart from the creative economy center, he also talked about the affected tourism villages in the region, including the Gunung Padang megalithic site in Karyamukti village, Cianjur, which won the 2022 Best Tourism Village Award.

Around five percent of the facilities in the tourism village suffered damage in the earthquake.

“We just got the latest update that the tourism village that won the 2022 Tourism Village Award, namely the Gunung Padang Site Tourism Village, suffered about five percent damage,” the minister informed.

He said that he was told by the head of the Cianjur Tourism Office that the tourism and creative economy players were better prepared because they had just obtained their CHSE (Cleanliness, Health, Safety & Environment Sustainability) certification, so the impact was only at the entry point to the tourism village.

The tourism and creative economy destinations in Cianjur and its surrounding areas, including Cipanas, have been temporarily closed, he added.

He assured that the government, in this case, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, together with volunteers, will continue to monitor and provide assistance to quake victims in Cianjur.

According to him, teams have been deployed and around 14 command posts have been set up in the earthquake-affected locations.

“We appeal to all Indonesian people to join hands, work together to help our brothers and sisters in Cianjur,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News