Bali is relatively safe

DENPASAR, Bali: Bali Governor Ida Bagus Oka said the island is still relatively safe for foreign visitors, with a crime rate that could not be regarded as excessive.

Oka told reporters that the fact that the number of visitors to Indonesia continued to increase year after year when most other countries are experiencing an opposite trend indicates that foreigners have confidence about their safety when visiting Indonesia, and Bali in particular.

Earlier this week, a group of chiefs of foreign consulates in Bali visited the governor to express their concern about the island's crime rate.

Deputy Chief of the Nusa Tenggara Police Brig. Gen. Bimantoro, who accompanied the governor at the press meeting, said the number of crimes on Bali has fluctuated in the last three years, from 2,158 in 1993, to 2,264 in 1994 and 2,169 last year.

Most of the crime victims are Indonesians rather than foreign tourists, Bimantoro said.

Last year, 57 foreigners were affected by crimes. This, he said, is a small fraction of all the foreigners who visited the island in 1995. (emb)