Balinese businesses suffers from last week's bombing

Balinese businesses suffers from last week's bombing

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

Last week's bombing in the famous Kuta tourist resort has not
only claimed lives but has also threatened the future of many
businesses on the island, on which thousands of people depend for
their livelihood.

Balinese, particularly those living and running businesses in
Kuta, will likely have to wait for months at the least before
they can expect foreign and local tourists to return to the
island. Some are even worried about keeping their business going
at all.

Zainul Hakim, owner of a money changer firm, PT Dini Artha
Buana, located about 500 meters from Paddy's Cafe and Sari Club,
the two clubs that were destroyed in the blast, said his turnover
had dropped to about Rp 10 million per day. Previously it was
about Rp 40 million to Rp 50 million per day.

"This tragedy has ruined the image of this island and I don't
think we can recover from it soon," Hakim said.

"Many strange things happened here when the bombs exploded at
the nightclubs and I hope the government can immediately explain
them. As you know, one of the bombs that exploded near the U.S.
Consulate General at Renon was placed (by the perpetrators) under
a tree that was quite far from the (consulate) office. If this
terrorist group was intent on attacking Americans, why did they
attack the nightclubs, instead of the office itself?

"But, anyway ... I don't know about what is going on here ...
it is so strange ... so strange ...," Hakim said.

Hakim said that his business, which was dependent totally upon
foreign people who wished to change their currency for Indonesian
rupiah, would likely remain stagnant for the next six months
because "Australian tourists are the main visitors here and they
support my business."

"This tragedy was the first for us (the Balinese) as we had
not hitherto been affected by the various issues on terrorism
related to Jakarta and the U.S. It is a sensitive issue, isn't?
More and more visitors have left this place, particularly
Japanese tourists," Hakim told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"Looking back to the riots here in 1999, it took a year for us
to recover ... tourists are afraid of riots or other serious
threats like this (the bombing)," Hakim said.

He was referring to the 1999 riots that hit Bali after
Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle, failed to secure the presidency due to the
political maneuvering of rival parties at the People's
Consultative Assembly. Her party won the 1999 general election,
but the Assembly elected Aburrahman Wahid as president instead,
causing great disappointment among Megawati's supporters, who
rioted in several regions, including Bali.

Aromas Cafe, which specializes in providing vegetarian meals,
faces similar problems. Only a few tables were occupied by
visitors, mostly foreign tourists, during the peak period on
Wednesday.

"Usually, these tables are fully occupied by about more than
100 visitors per day, but since the bomb exploded at Paddy's and
SC (Sari Club), we're lucky if we can get 10 visitors," an
employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Post.

The fate of the cafe's employees remains unclear, as the
management has decided to temporarily lay them off until the
situation returns to normal.

"During the temporary layoff we will receive only half our
salary, which totals around Rp 600,000 per month," said a female
employee.

Across Jl. Legian, which leads to Paddy's and Sari Club, all
stores and restaurants looked quiet. Pedestrians, including
foreign tourists, walked along the street to visit the blast
site, where they stopped briefly to view the destruction and
then left, without buying any of the Balinese souvenirs on offer
or stopping at any of the restaurants or cafes to have lunch or
dinner.

Several stores and restaurants had decided to shut early for
fear about the uncertain security situation.

A McDonald's outlet nearby has not fared better either, with
only three or four tables occupied, mostly by locals.

An employee said that the management had reduced the number of
employees from about 50 to only 10.

"It will be useless to hire people if no guests come here,
won't it?" she said, adding that for the past three days the
outlet had closed at 9 p.m. Usually it served customers until 2
a.m.

Taxi drivers are also affected by the explosion, which has
reduced their income by around 50 percent. More and more tourists
are abandoning the island, which means less and less income for
them.

Hakim said the months from October to December used to be the
peak session for tourism in Bali as thousands of foreign tourists
would arrive on holiday. Hakim feared not many people would come
this time.

Amid mounting pessimism over Bali's future, Peter Semone, a
vice president of Bali-based Pacific Asia Travel Association
(PATA), expressed optimism that tourism in Bali would remain
stable, considering "foreign tourists have continued to visit
countries suffering from uncertain security situations, such as
Sri Lanka and Pakistan."

"These two countries are also PATA members. I'm still
optimistic that Bali will soon regain its tourism," Peter said.

According to PATA's data, nearly 1.5 million foreign tourists
from various countries come to the resort island each year.
Moreover, some 1 million domestic tourists also spend their
holiday here.

During the first semester of this year, PATA's data showed
that Japan topped the foreign direct arrivals to Bali, with
139,780 of its citizen visiting the region. It was followed by
Chinese Taipei and Australia, with 97,329 and 90,817
respectively.

The total population in Bali is 2.5 million people, or 1.2
percent of Indonesia's total population.

Data also shows that Bali's tourism accounts for 30 percent of
Bali's gross domestic product, (80 percent in Badung regency,
where Kuta is located) compared with 12 percent for oil, gas,
copper and other raw materials.