Greed ruining Bali's beaches

Greed ruining Bali's beaches

I Wayan Ananta Wijaya, Contributor, Denpasar, Bali

Bali has always been associated with pristine beaches that have white sands and powerful waves that attract millions of visitors to the island.

And for years, the scenic and panoramic views of Balinese beaches have been exploited for tourism purposes.

The Balinese consider the sea as a holy place as it plays a crucial role in their lives, either through religion or culture. They consider the sea as the beginning and the end of one's life cycle. They take tirtha (holy waters) from the sea to be used for purification and rituals. The sea purifies the spirits of the dead before they go to heaven.

IB Darmika, anthropologist from the University of Hindu Indonesia in Denpasar, talked about the close relation between the Balinese people and the sea.

"We believe that the life of a human being originates from the sea. The Balinese people pay homage to the sea and preserve it as a most precious asset," he said.

The holy script written on palm leaves, the lontar inscription Adi Parwa, reveals the mythological Bima Ruci in which the Balinese strongly believe that the center of life and tirtha amertha (holy water of immortality) exist deep within the ocean.

Darmika said the holy water purifies both bhuwana alit (human beings) and bhuwana agung (the universe).

The procession to seek the holy water of Kamandalu is called melasti, the anthropologist said. Visitors to Bali may wonder why hundreds of people wearing lavish traditional costumes and carrying colorful flowers, cakes and fruit offerings march toward any beach in Bali. The melasti is usually carried out before any ritual in major Hindu temples or special events like Nyepi, the Hindu Day of Silence.

Hindu scholar I Ketut Wiana added that philosophically, melasti means a prayer to eliminate the suffering of the people and to balance the cosmological world. It is also a means to seek spiritual power to face any calamity.

With such a deep respect and awe, almost entire beaches and coastlines in Bali were left untouched and protected for centuries, until the province was developed to become Indonesia's most prominent tourist destination in the early l960s.

An environmentalist, A.A. Ngurah Made Arwatha, said the sea was no longer used for religious purposes.

"It has become a potential economic resource and a place for leisure and entertainment," Ngurah said.

Greedy investors hunt for beach locations to make way for various tourism-related development projects including hotels, villas, golf courses, etc. The exploitation of beach areas intensified in the early l980s and climaxed during former Bali governor IB Oka's term in office in the l990s. The then governor controversially issued a decree allowing investors to develop tourist facilities and manage the coastal areas in front of their properties.

The decree also shifted the function of beaches from the social and religious domain to limited and restricted business facilities.

Since then, parts of the coastline have been closed to the public. Some beach areas are only open to the guests of luxury hotels that manage the sites.

The public's right to utilize, enjoy and more importantly to perform religious ceremonies that should be held in beach areas have been denied by government regulation and by the greediness of developers.