Debate rages over distribution of Bali's tourism wealth

Debate rages over distribution of Bali's tourism wealth

By Nyoman Suwela

SINGARAJA (JP): Look at the map of the Indonesian archipelago,
Bali is only a dot, minute compared to the other provinces in
Indonesia. However, its world-wide fame as a tourist destination
is disproportionate to its size, and the methods on how best to
distribute wealth generated by the tourism industry has raised
controversy and heated debate.

The province itself is divided into eight regencies and one
mayoralty. As an autonomous province, it has to be self-
sufficient with all the resources. Fortunately, Bali has been
blessed with scenic beauty blended with a unique culture based on
Hinduism. That is why it is no exaggeration to say that it is
easy to see why Bali has earned the status "the island of gods",
"the morning of the world".

Because of its uniqueness, Bali has been attracting tourists
and travelers alike since the Dutch colonial period. During the
Dutch era, the capital was Singaraja in Northern Bali. Bali was
only a part of the province of Sunda Kecil, the province of
Lesser Sunda Islands, encompassing Bali in the west and West
Timor in the east.

Buleleng harbor was the main entrance for tourists arriving in
Bali by sea. From there, they usually traveled to the southern
part of Bali by car.

In l959, the province of Sunda Kecil was divided into three
provinces namely Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.
The capital of the new province of Bali was moved from Singaraja
in the north to Denpasar in the south.

The opening of Ngurah Rai International Airport in the south
during the l960s made Bali easily accessible from all four
corners of the globe.

Tourist arrivals have been increasing steadily as has the
proliferation of tourist facilities. Two main tourist resorts
namely Sanur and Kuta, both located in Badung regency are already
congested and have suffered a decline in environmental quality.

Based on projections of a future increase in tourist arrivals
made by the provincial government, the idea to develop an
integrated resort was launched.

The idea was later realized in the development of Nusa Dua
tourist resort financed partly by the World Bank and managed by
state-owned Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC). The
resort has now become one of the island's most luxurious, well-
integrated holiday and business resorts operating at
international standards.

Based on the tourism master plan, the main tourist attraction
in Bali is its rich and diverse cultural assets and therefore
such valuable property should always be protected from any
possible threat.

Cluster

All tourism development projects should only be clustered in
resort areas designated specially for the construction of hotels,
restaurants and other tourist facilities. Such projects must not
be carried out in places where the island's cultural assets
including holy temples, ancient buildings and specific banjar
traditional villages are located.

According to the master plan, there are 21 resort areas in
Bali but, due to a number of developments, the number has been
increasing substantially over the last few years. The
construction of new resorts have expanded to areas as remote as
the mother temple of Besakih in Karang Asem, East Bali, Tanah Lot
holy temple, and Mount and Lake Batur in Tabanan regency.

Sadly all these developments are taking place in areas that
were previously protected from any tourist development projects.

The provincial government requires each regency to impose a 10
percent development tax on any transaction at any hotel and
restaurant. Because of this tax requirement, tourist-designated
areas such as Sanur, Kuta and Nusa Dua have received a huge
amount from tax revenues. These areas have reaped the financial
benefits of tourism.

But this situation has also created a wide income disparity
among regencies in Bali.

A number of regional governments have argued that all tax
revenue from the province's tourism business must be distributed
fairly to each of regencies in the province.

To solve this problem, the central government, in particular
the Ministry of Home Affairs, obliged the Badung regency and
other rich regencies to distribute 30 percent of their tax
revenues to less developed regencies to be used for the
development of tourist facilities in each regency.

Unfortunately, many regents and regional officials have
allegedly used these funds for their own interests. Some
officials have reportedly bought luxury cars and houses with the
money.

Such unscrupulous action was uncovered by the Governor of Bali
during an official tour he made to Bangli regency.

The implementation of the new law on regional autonomy last
January also touched upon this issue. The Badung regional
legislative council DPRD has proposed to reduce the regency's tax
distribution from 30 percent of total tax revenue to only 15
percent.

Regional legislators argued that Badung regency would need a
substantial amount of money to finance various development
projects as a consequence of the new law on regional autonomy.

Other regencies openly opposed the Badung regency's idea and
have threatened to impose levies on every tourist visiting or
staying at their regencies.

Many people have accused Badung legislators of being arrogant.
Whatever the reason, every official and member of society must
realize that Bali belongs to every Balinese person. If Badung
regency insists on implementing their plan to cut tax
distribution by half, the income disparity among Bali's regencies
will be wider than ever and it may create social and economic
unrest amongst locals. Badung regency is only a small part of
Bali. Badung people and officials should think and act wisely and
responsibly, not just concerning their own regency, but about the
effects of their decisions on the entire island.

The writer is a travel observer and former head of Buleleng
Tourism Office.