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.