Investment in Bali must be tightly controlled

Investment in Bali must be tightly controlled

MENGWI, Bali (Antara): Bali is famous as the island of
paradise. Its pristine beauty, unique cultural and customs draw
millions of tourists.

But the sheer number of tourists has led to rapid development
on the island, as developers race to provide facilities for the
visitors. And this development is proving a serious threat to the
island's ecosystem.

To ensure environmental sustainability and balance in Bali's
ecosystem, which is already showing signs of deterioration, the
provincial administration of Bali must maintain control over all
development projects financed by both domestic and foreign
investors, a foreign consultant has said.

Speaking in Mengwi, near Denpasar, Ian C. Buchanan, the
consulting director of Booz, Allen & Hamilton Australia and also
a consultant to the Indonesian government for social, political
and cultural affairs, said: "Like it or not, the global changes
now quite rapidly taking place have affected the social,
political, economic and cultural conditions in Bali, elements on
which the survival of the tourism industry in Bali is based."

The construction of much of the tourism infrastructure and
facilities, financed by both domestic and foreign funds, is
incompatible with the island's carrying capacity and its
environmental and cultural conditions, he said.

Seemingly badly planned investment projects in the tourism
sector have ended up having adverse impacts on Bali's
increasingly deteriorating environmental sustainability, balance
and quality.

"Across the island, heaps of garbage are a common sight and in
tourist areas, such as the beaches, plastic garbage is piling
up," Buchanan said.

In addition, the deterioration in the quality of the
environment in Bali as a result of unplanned investment projects
is also evident from the fact that the tourism industry uses an
increasing amount of groundwater.

"Therefore, to ensure that the tourism industry will survive
in environmentally friendly surroundings, the local
administration must begin to keep under its control all kinds of
investment in the tourism and other sectors. Only in this way can
environmental conditions in Bali be restored," Buchanan said.

At this time, the provincial, municipality and district
administrations in Bali must review all investment permits they
have issued, particularly with respect to investment undertakings
which clearly adversely affect the island's environmental balance
and sustainability, he said.

This review is important as Bali, one of the nation's, as well
as the world's, main tourist destinations, does not now seem able
to offer tourists the same level of comfort as it did in the
past.

Construction projects beyond areas' carrying capacities have
led to traffic congestion in a number of locations, including
tourist resorts, on this Island of a Thousand Temples.

An internal reordering of development projects on Bali,
particularly in the tourism sector, is badly needed to ensure
that this Island of the Gods will continue to be a safe and
comfortable tourist destination, especially considering that Bali
is the yardstick for Indonesia's tourism industry.

"In addition, this internal reordering is also needed in the
face of the increasingly stiffer competition in the world's
tourism mart, and at the same time to restore the unfavorable
image of Bali's tourism at present," Buchanan said.

Lawsuit

Meanwhile, a number of non-governmental organizations in Bali
have said they will file a lawsuit against the management of West
Bali National Park if it continues to allow investment in the
park.

I Gede Bangun Nusantara, the chairman of one of the NGOs,
Sustainable Balinese Forest, said investment in the West Bali
National Park and the forests of West Bali had to be stopped by
October 2001. He was speaking prior to a meeting with commissions
A and B of Bali's provincial legislative assembly on Monday. The
meeting was being held to discuss the demands of the 17 non-
governmental organizations threatening the lawsuit.

"We will bring the management of the national park to the
state administrative court if project officers and the management
of the national parks do not quickly stop all investment
activities in the areas of the national park and the forests of
West Bali," Bangun said.

Since being opened to investment in early 1993, the
environmental sustainability and balance of the national park and
the forests of West Bali have been adversely affected, Bangun
said.

"Rapid development in the tourism sector in Bali has lured
many investors to invest in Bali, including in the area of the
national park," he noted.

As a result, the West Bali National Park, previously
designated a core zone and a jungle zone, has become a
utilization zone designated for investment projects, particularly
those in the tourism sector.

The change in these zone designations has particularly
affected Tanjung Kota, a coastal area famous for its white sand.
Since early 1993, when investors began to eye this area and
approach the management of the national park, this change has
been painfully obvious.

Because of investment projects, the environmental
sustainability and balance in the national park has been not only
disrupted, but quite seriously damaged.

There are today a number of tourist resorts measuring a total
of some 500 hectares in the national park and their presence has
virtually ignored the area's environmental balance and
sustainability.

"Unless this matter is subject to a review, the national park
will continue to sustain quite serious damage. Therefore, the
central government and the provincial administration of Bali must
immediately review all investment projects in the area of the
national park," Nusantara said.

In addition, the changes in the zone designations have allowed
hotels and tourist resorts to spring up in the West Bali National
Park and forests, considerably reducing the habitat of the Bali
starling, a rare species of bird which used to thrive in these
areas.

A symbol of the province, the Bali starlings in the area have
come under increased pressure due to theft. On one occasion, four
birds were stolen, on another 39 birds and on the last 13 birds.
Today there are only eight Bali starlings left in the area.

Law enforcers must be proactive in taking legal action against
parties found to have caused damage to the West Bali National
Park, and help bring about the restoration of the national park's
jungle zone designation. Then must also take steps to restore the
habitat of the Bali starling, Nusantara said.

To maintain security within the national park, a routine
patrol must be conducted by some 10 to 15 officers at a number of
main locations in the park, particularly those allegedly used to
transport illegally cut timber, he said.

"If necessary, these patrols will also involve a traditional
village security system, namely pecalang. This operation must be
done regularly over a certain period of time, for example six
months," he noted.

One important step to restore the environmental condition of
the national park is to revamp the area's management,
particularly replacing certain forestry officials allegedly
abetting the environmental damage in the national park.

It is also necessary to help regional officials and the local
community become aware of the significance of environmental
sustainability, Nusantara said.

In response, the chairman of Commission B of Bali's provincial
legislative assembly, I Ketut Nurja, said he immediately would
hold meetings with all relevant NGOs and governmental agencies
with a view toward drawing up a recommendation that investment in
the West Bali National Park and forest areas be stopped.

"This meeting will be held on Jan. 18, 2001, and all NGOs and
relevant government agencies will be invited to attend it. We
hope to be able to solve the problems related to the West Bali
National Park and forest areas immediately, so that environmental
sustainability and balance in Bali's forest areas can be
maintained," Nurja said.