November 11, 2024
JAKARTA – Government initiatives to expand infrastructure will cement Bali’s status as Indonesia’s premier tourist destination rather than spread out development across the country, to the extent that many now worry about overtourism on the island.
In a visit to Denpasar, Bali, on Sunday, President Prabowo Subianto vowed to continue the development of a new airport in the island’s north, claiming it would help turn the province into a “new Singapore or new Hong Kong”.
The head of the Bali Tourism Office, Tjok Bagus Pemayun, has thrown his support behind the plan, though he also noted it would need to be reviewed further.
He argued that the new airport in Buleleng regency would help spread tourism more evenly across the island, alleviating overcrowding and traffic congestion in the southern region.
“The central government’s decision to build the new airport must have undergone a preliminary assessment,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, adding that safety had to be the priority in the airport’s development, with advanced technology to ensure there were no risks for local sites.
Tjok said the new airport would have an “economic multiplier effect” and increase Bali’s accessibility, which would contribute to the island’s growing tourism industry.
The plan for the new Bali airport, however, has sparked debate, both in the political elite and among local people. The project was proposed in 2016 but was cut from the national strategic projects (PSN) list in 2022 by then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo amid a lack of political support.
Former president and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri has expressed her opposition to the project, arguing that the airport’s development would put local people at risk of being marginalized and would only benefit tourism investors.
Asked about the project on Tuesday, Coordinating Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono told the Post that the plan required further study and central-local government coordination.
The idea of turning northern Bali into a “new Singapore or new Hong Kong” did not sit well with all locals.
Niluh Djelantik, who represents Bali in the Regional Representative Council (DPD), made her objections known on Instagram in a post quoting local lontar manuscript expert Sugi Lanus’ opinion on President Prabowo’s comments.
“Balinese people, regarding the rise of tourism, have a saying: ‘tourism for Bali, not Bali for tourism’, this needs to be taken seriously,” Sugi wrote, as quoted by Niluh on her @niluhdjelantik Instagram account.
His response consisted of nine points, which Niluh called on lawmakers and stakeholders to consider.
Sugi said imitating Singapore or Hong Kong’s modern infrastructure and “artificial tourism” was not suitable for Bali.
Since the 1970s, he wrote, Bali had oriented its tourism toward “cultural tourism”. He said the main attraction of Bali lay in its rich cultural heritage and natural beauty.
“Central and local government policy should avoid being too hasty in making claims and instead should synergize to ensure that developments in Bali focus not only on physical infrastructure but also on understanding its ethical and philosophical foundations,” he said.
Read also: Prabowo visits KIM-backed candidates in Bali
Bali gubernatorial candidate Made Muliawan Arya, who is backed by the President’s big-tent Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), defended Prabowo’s speech, saying the initiative was aimed at developing the airport and its surroundings to a standard similar to Singapore’s or Hong Kong’s, not to reshape the island of Bali into those cities.
He urged people to watch Prabowo’s full speech. “In the beginning [of the speech], he also told us to eradicate corruption, free [the island] from waste problems and preserve Balinese culture, as well as building the new airport,” Arya wrote in a post on his @de_gadjah Instagram account.
Arya has been a member of the Denpasar Legislative Council for the past 10 years and is credited with securing Prabowo’s win in Bali in February’s presidential election. Prabowo endorsed Arya’s campaign promise to develop the new airport to help reduce air traffic at I Ngurah Rai International Airport, saying the policy was in line with the central government’s infrastructure goals.
The new airport is one of several projects aimed at maximizing Bali’s tourism potential. The government is also pursuing other developments, such as family offices and special economic zones (SEZs) in Sanur to attract more tourism investment.
Agung Wardana, academic researcher and environmental law professor at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said sustainable tourism had to respect ecological limits and that ongoing issues on the island, such as heavy traffic, flooding and mounting waste, showed that Bali had exceeded its tourism capacity.
“Bali right now is under massive pressure, and it will not be sustainable to keep expanding its tourism sector,” he said to the Post on Monday.
He also noted that the central government still perceived Bali as the primary option for increasing foreign exchange in the country, such as through programs encouraging digital nomads to live and work on the island.
The plan to boost the local economy by getting foreigners to stay and work remotely on the island, he argued, had proven counterproductive.
“In many cases, digital nomads have no significant contribution. They live in Bali with minimal local economic impact,” Agung said, adding that they spent little and that some had even taken up work as property agents.
Read also: Bali proposes two-year moratorium on hotel, nightclub construction
The government previously proposed a moratorium on new hotels in an effort to prevent overtourism on the island.
Interim Bali governor Sang Made Mahendra Jaya submitted the proposal to the central government on Sept. 7, asking that the ban apply in Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan.
The aim was to improve regional planning and pursue quality tourism, Sang Made said, as quoted by news agency Antara.