Buleleng focuses on living up to its potential

Buleleng focuses on living up to its potential

Buleleng accounts for Bali's largest regency, but due to
inadequate infrastructure, a great deal of its tremendous
economic potential has yet to be tapped. The Jakarta Post's Novan
Iman Santosa and Moch. N. Kurniawan visited the regency and filed
the following report.

Although the northern regency of Buleleng is the largest in
Bali, that does not mean the area is the richest.

Most of the regency's population of 580,000 is scattered
throughout the 136,588 square kilometers of land -- some 24
percent of Bali's total area.

Once the capital of Lesser Sunda province, now the provinces
of Bali, East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara, the city of
Singaraja lost its significance when the Ministry of Home Affairs
decided in 1960 to make Denpasar the provincial capital after
Lesser Sunda was divided into its three current provinces.

The southern part of Bali has become the new economic center
with the development of the Nusa Dua tourism resort, Ngurah Rai
International Airport and a new road linking Gilimanuk with
Denpasar.

Since then, business in Buleleng has declined. The centralized
policy of the central government has only worsened the situation.

The Denpasar mayoralty and Badung regency, which encircles
Denpasar, reaped the biggest benefit out of the decision to move
the capital from Singaraja to Denpasar.

The enactment of Law No.22/1999 on regional autonomy on Jan.
1, 2001, gave Buleleng a chance to regain its glory after it
became the second poorest regency in Bali in terms of its income
per capita.

In 2000, Buleleng's income per capita was only Rp 3.1 million
(US$352.27), while Badung's stood at Rp 8.9 million, Denpasar's
at Rp 5.9 million and Gianyar's at 4.98 million, according to
statistics.

Most of Buleleng's income is derived from the tourism and
agriculture sectors. And now the Buleleng administrations are
ready to exploit its underutilized natural resources.

"We will optimize our natural resources and tourism potential
to attract new investments. It is the best thing to do for our
people," the Buleleng Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head,
I Nyoman Yasa, told The Jakarta Post.

Buleleng Bappeda has divided the regency into three
development zones: the western, central and eastern zones.

"Dividing the regency in an east-west direction allows each
area to fully take advantage of the resources here," he said.

"Each development area will have their own share of mountain
and beach."

Despite its abundant resources, Buleleng has yet to take full
advantage of them.

"We have, for example, the longest shoreline in Bali, which
stretches for about 144 kilometers, and a huge fisheries
potential, but there are only a few investors in this field,"
said Yasa.

"Buleleng also has various tourist destinations that could be
further developed. In agriculture, we also have vast coffee and
clove plantations as well as vegetable and fruit cultivations."

"These sectors are waiting for investors."

Should investors come, he said that his office was prepared to
speed up their licensing process to start business here.

Following the relocation of Bali's capital from Singaraja to
Denpasar, most investment projects on the island were located in
the southern part of the island, such as Badung and Denpasar,
which offered a better infrastructure, such as an airport, roads,
electricity and telephone lines, making the area more developed.

The provincial administration, however, has decided to close
tourism-related investment in Denpasar and Badung so that other
regencies can develop their tourist destinations.

Yasa said that the Buleleng administration would start
offering the Batu Ampar area in the western part of Buleleng,
which has a less developed beach, the West Bali National Park,
the ancient villages of Pedawa and Sidatapa and its hot springs.

"But the are only four hotels in the western region. It still
needs a lot of hotels there, but we also have to lure more and
more tourists to come here," he said.

The only developed beach is Lovina in the central development
area, which is known for its dolphin show and black sand.

Yasa said Lovina beach would soon be declared closed for new
investment, which would open the door for other beaches to be
developed.

There are also plans to develop tourism spots in Buleleng's
eastern part, such as the ancient village of Sidatapa.

The regency will also offer its potential fisheries sector,
which has many kinds of fish, Yasa said.

In agriculture, Buleleng can also offer investors prospective
areas to grow grapes, mangoes, strawberries and rambutan, he
added.

"Buleleng has become one of the major fruit suppliers and
there are so many other opportunities to be explored by
investors," said Yasa.

"Buleleng is such an ideal place to grow grapes. In fact, it
is the only grape producer in Bali. We will also continue to
develop our leading commodities of coffee and cloves."

The regency has been able to keep its lead in the coffee trade
due to the shift of coffee blend from robust to a new variety.

To help investors, Yasa said Buleleng had adequate facilities,
such as roads and electricity.

"Seventy percent of our regency's roads are paved, and 90
percent of the area has electricity. In fact, our infrastructure
is quite developed," he said.

Yasa also said that the regency planned to upgrade its Lt.
Col. Wisnu Airstrip, built in 2000, to make transportation easier
and faster. At the moment, only 12-seater Cessna airplanes can
land on the airstrip.

"Once it has been upgraded, we can expect more tourists to
come here directly," he said.

Despite the optimism, Buleleng regency secretary, Nyoman
Sukarma, expressed fear that Buleleng's efforts to lure investors
would be in vain, as the regency faced problems in meeting the
increasing demand for electricity and telephone lines.

Despite the current availability of electricity in Buleleng,
he said, the regency, which is included in the Java-Bali
interconnection power grid, could suffer power shortages starting
in 2004 as would other areas, if there are no additional power
plants built in Java or Bali.

He said people in Buleleng found it difficult to get a phone
connection, forcing them to use phone kiosks or cellular phones.

"We can develop new roads with our budget, but the policies of
state-owned electricity company PLN and state-owned
telecommunications PT Telkom regulate the electricity and
telephone lines," Sukarma said.

"I'm afraid our efforts to lure investors will be useless
without a clear policy from the two state-owned firms."

Separately, Denpasar-based economist I Nyoman Erawan suggested
the central government to make "a big push" in allowing further
development in northern Bali.

"Without such incentives, the northern part of the island will
remain less developed. But this is not only the responsibility of
the Buleleng administration.

"Most of the decisions lie in the hands of the provincial
administration and the central government," he said.

Since the regency is mountainous, Buleleng does not have ample
space for rice cultivation like its neighbors to the south. The
condition is worsened by the fact that its land is too dry to be
suitable for growing rice.

With these geographical drawbacks, in addition to its
historical background, the people of this area have had to be
tougher than those from the south.

Buleleng, which ranks second after Denpasar in terms of a high
crime rate, is struggling to overcome its security problem.

"Security is very important, not only for tourists and
investors, but also for the locals," Buleleng Police chief Adj.
Sr. Comr. M. Safei said. "It's my duty to ensure the people's
safety and security and we're doing our best. Thank God, there
has been no significant crimes."

The police cooperate with the local pecalang (traditional
security guards) to keep the regency safe.