Foreign land ownership erodes Bali's cultural identity<\/p>\n
By Bulan L.<\/p>\n
DENPASAR (JP): Indonesian regulations encourage foreign
\ninvestors to develop houses and apartments but prohibit foreign
\nownership of land.<\/p>\n
Real estate developers have urged the government to open the
\nland market to foreigners, but it seems that the government is
\nstill a long way from granting this for various reasons. One is
\nthat the government's chief concern is still in providing
\naffordable housing for Indonesian people.<\/p>\n
In practice, however, particularly in Bali, many land
\nacquisitions by foreigners as well as leasing of property on
\nwhich houses are built by foreigners have been concluded under
\nthe names of local people.<\/p>\n
Indeed, Bali with a population of 2.7 million (1990 census)
\noffers millions of attractions. It is the place where the rush
\nfor property acquisitions by foreigners is more likely than in
\nany other places in Indonesia. Last year recorded a total of 2.1
\nmillion foreign travelers to Bali.<\/p>\n
The real estate business started 20 years ago but only
\nrecently has it escalated to its present level. Ubud and Sanur
\nwere the favorite locations for foreigners in past years, but
\nthis business has now expanded to various places such as
\nKerobokan (near Legian), Klungkung, Pujungan, Tebanan and
\nsurrounding areas, even Negara, the western point of Bali. These
\nfavorite and hilly places have a magnificent panorama with
\nspectacular views of rice fields, with some properties being near
\nthe beach.<\/p>\n
In this real estate business, if foreigners lease a plot of
\nland, they do so for a 20 to 30-year period with the agreement
\nthat after the expiration date the land, together with the house,
\nshall become the property of the landowner. The government
\nmeanwhile is still undecided on whether to limit the leasehold to
\n10 years.<\/p>\n
Paulo, an Italian who has been living in Bali for 15 years,
\nadmitted that he leased land in Kerobokan for 30 years. Six years
\nago he paid Rp 37.5 million for 25 are of land, or at Rp 50,000
\nper are a year. This antique dealer admitted that leasing land is
\nfar cheaper than buying land at Rp 10 million per are (an are is
\n100 square meters).<\/p>\n
\"If I had bought it, I would have had to pay Rp 250 million.
\nThat is too much, although I could have used my friend's name for
\nownership of the house,\" he said, \"and besides, I am not going to
\nstay here forever. I don't mind staying here for only 30 years.\"<\/p>\n
Hans Peter, a Swiss, recently acquired a plot at more than Rp
\n1 billion in Sanur and built a luxurious Balinese-style house
\ninvolving a well-known architect on this Island of the Gods. He
\nadmitted to having paid Rp 25 million per are of land of 0.5
\nhectare in size. The land and the house were then registered in
\nthe name of his friend, a native of Bali.<\/p>\n
\"I leave everything to him,\" he said, \"In short, I trust my
\nfriend. It is up to him if one day he wants to cheat me, but I
\nhave deposited the original land certificate in my bank in
\nSwitzerland,\" he added.<\/p>\n
According to Paulo, there are also those who notarize the
\nagreement, known as Double Agreement. Miss Kaja, a Japanese lady
\ntraveling back and forth to Bali over the last 10 years, admitted
\nto having two luxurious houses in Nusa Dua now worth Rp 300
\nmillion each. Both houses were brought under a friend's name, a
\nBalinese man whom she has known for a long time. She also has a
\nnotarized agreement concerning the authorization of the house
\nunder the name of her friend, \"but legally speaking, I am weak,\"
\nshe admitted.<\/p>\n
Sometimes she gets anxious when hearing news about foreigners
\nbeing cheated by so-called friends whose names were used on land
\ndeeds.<\/p>\n
Most of the foreigners leasing land or owning houses in
\nKerobokan and surrounding areas are businessmen dealing in
\nantiques and garments, but there are also those who build a
\nholiday house.<\/p>\n
Lease<\/p>\n
Many lease from Wija Waworuntu, a well-known landowner who
\nalso owns part of the land that the Bali Hyatt is built on.
\nWaworuntu is the owner of Tanjung Sari Hotel. He owns luxurious
\nproperty in Sanur called Batu Jimbar Housing complex. Other well-
\nknown house owners in Batu Jimbar who have a leasehold agreement
\nwith Wija Waworuntu are Frank Morgan, a prominent lawyer in
\nJakarta, Adrian Zacka, owner of Amandari and Amankila hotels, and
\nBryce, one of the top executives at the Hyatt International
\nCorporation in Chicago. These people built their houses on land
\nleased from Waworuntu for 30 years or more. Most of the houses
\nare luxurious Balinese-style buildings used for their owners
\nbusiness relations as well as for rent. Mick Jagger and his wife
\nJerry Hall, Steve Wyatt and Sarah Ferguson are known to have
\nleased one of the furnished houses with round-the-clock security.
\nThe rent is US$1,000 a night.<\/p>\n
The implementation of the law that allows foreigners to
\nacquire property has caused land prices to escalate. Prices in
\nsuch areas as Ubud have increased considerably, particularly in
\nlocations such as Sayan, Kedewatan, Campuhan, Penestanan and Mas.
\nThe lowest price in Campuhan is Rp 60 million per are. Ubud is
\npreferred for its cool weather and magnificent views of rice
\nfields and for the Ayung river which irrigates the rice fields.
\nThere are luxurious houses hidden behind high fences, but a
\nspectacular view of terraced rice fields is visible from these
\nhouses. There are two foreign painters who live there, Antonio
\nBlanco and Hans Snel who are married to Balinese women.<\/p>\n
There are hundreds of foreigners living in Ubud now on leased
\nland or on land purchased under other people's names. A German
\nbusinessman, Jurgen Guyer, lives in a house in Sayan. He has
\nleased two hectares of land for 30 years at Rp 300 million, or Rp
\n50,000 per are a year. As is the case with several other
\nforeigners, he does not want to buy land as he is not going to
\nlive here forever.<\/p>\n
\"I only want to use the house for my holidays, and also this
\nhouse is for my business relations visiting Bali,\" said the
\nbusinessman dealing in slaughtering equipment.<\/p>\n
An Englishman, a retired hotelier in Bali, owns a house in
\nPenestanan, Ubud in the name of a local man in Ubud. This house
\nwas built almost 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
\"I only want to live here, I have fallen in love with
\nIndonesia and I do not want to return to my country, so please do
\nnot disturb me,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The real estate business has expanded throughout Bali, and not
\nonly in Sanur and Ubud. In the western part of Bali, in Pujungan
\n(around 100 km from Denpasar), an Englishman called Daniel has a
\nhouse in the hilly Pujungan from where one can see the sea at a
\ndistance. Before he married, he used a friend's name on the
\nproperty deeds, but after he married a Balinese he had the deed
\nchanged to his wife's name. Daniel is aware of the large business
\nopportunity here so he has also acquired two hectares of land for
\ncommercial purposes. Daniel has divided the land into several
\nplots to be sold to interested people. He has constructed a wide
\nasphalted road and has installed electricity. The land which he
\nbought for Rp 300,000 per are is now offered at Rp 6 million per
\nare, for sale to foreigners.<\/p>\n
There are certainly unpleasant facts behind land acquisitions
\nunder somebody else's name. Take for example Carla, an American
\nauthor who has been visiting Indonesia for the past 20 years. Two
\nyears ago she bought a piece of land in Klungkung, then built a
\nBalinese-style house on it. But her \"friend\", a Balinese whom she
\ntrusted very much in the beginning, could not resist the luxury
\nof the author's house and started to cheat her. He wanted to sell
\nthe house because it was registered in his name. Fortunately the
\nAmerican author acted quickly and, with an influential friend in
\nthat area, she took over the ownership of the land and house.<\/p>\n
\"I fought to get my house back,\" Carla said. She bought the
\nland at quite a cheap price because she used the name of her
\n\"friend\".<\/p>\n
Conflicts<\/p>\n
Despite the risk of being cheated, foreigners do not seem too
\nconcerned and have continued to cooperate with locals to acquire
\nland or build houses.<\/p>\n
There are many people who are enjoying the property boom at
\nexorbitant prices. However, there are also many who are against
\nthe trend. They are mainly the cultural anthropologists and
\nintellectuals of Bali, as to them land is closely related to
\nculture and spiritual life.<\/p>\n
Another issue is the anxiety of a possibility of conflicts
\nbetween the culture brought along by the newcomers and the local
\nculture. Many people are worried about a confrontation with the
\nlocal culture which tends to be a collective and religious one.
\nMany are also of the opinion that attention should be paid to
\npreventing the diminishing of the local culture as is being
\nexperienced by the Hawaiian and Betawi people, the indigenous
\npeople of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
When this matter was brought up to Ngurah Bagus, a Balinese
\nprominent cultural anthropologist, he said that he did not
\napprove of foreign acquisition of land. He argued that the status
\nof land in Bali is different from that in other places. Land in
\nBali has many religious, social and cultural functions. The sale
\nof land with ownership titles can cause damage to the social and
\nreligious entity, he maintained.<\/p>\n
\"The government should listen to the people. If this process
\nis allowed to go on, the Balinese will have to be relocated. This
\nwill not only cause material damage but non-material damage as
\nwell, which is very important to the Balinese. The loss of land
\nwill make the Balinese a stranger in the environment where they
\nwere born, cut off from their environment, whereas in fact the
\nBalinese are raised with a strong bond of banjar (village
\norganization),\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"If that happens, the Balinese will no longer be bound to the
\noriginal area. Their social relations will become loose and this
\nin turn will result in a social, cultural, political as well as
\npower change,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Putu Suasta, a young Balinese intellectual and businessman who
\nalways focuses on the cultural issue, states that the open
\neconomic system has left Indonesians with no choice.<\/p>\n
\"Whether you like it or not, we have to accept any law
\nallowing foreigners to own property,\" he said. \"This would be
\nbetter than the underhanded way so far, which has caused a lot of
\ncheating,\" he added.<\/p>\n
According to Putu Suasta, at the moment Balinese are saturated
\nwith the rapid industrial agrarian development. The Balinese feel
\nbesieged by the purchase of their land. As a way out, he suggests
\ntwo alternatives.<\/p>\n
First, it would be better for foreigners to use a leasehold
\nsystem with a limited term so that the Balinese still have a
\nright to their land. And second, even if the land could be fully
\nowned through acquisition, the government must regulate it
\nproperly and tightly so that it shall not be to the disadvantage
\nof the locals, such as by making them feel colonized on their own
\nland.<\/p>\n
He added that this should be regulated since to the Balinese
\nthe land is a symbol, integrated with the cultural and spiritual
\nlife of the Balinese.<\/p>\n
\"Land is a symbol of the metaphysical world, land is the
\nsymbol of bhatara (the gods) where fertility is symbolized by
\nDewi Sri (the goddess of fertility and prosperity). There is a
\nvery close relation between the people and their land. Land is an
\noffering. By turning rice fields into houses, for example, the
\nBalinese have lost their religious symbols,\" he maintained.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/foreign-land-ownership-erodes-balis-cultural-identity-1447893297",
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