Green Group tells new governor about environtment woes

Luh De Suriyani , Contributor , Denpasar | Tue, 09/02/2008 10:22 AM | Bali

Reminding the new Bali administration of its promise to halt construction of environmentally destructive tourist schemes, NGO members of Walhi Bali have sent an open letter to Governor Pastika identifying four such large-scale projects.

The open letter from the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) has been disclosed to the public through the media and mailing lists, and would soon be handed over to newly installed Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, who began his first week of duty Monday.

The four schemes include the geothermal project in Bedugul tourist area in Tabanan regency; the reclamation of Yeh Poh River's downstream area in Badung regency; the conversion of Dasong Nature Reserve Forest near Buyan-Tamblingan Lake in Buleleng regency and the construction of luxury villas along Kelating Beach in Tabanan regency.

Agung Wardana, executive director of Walhi Bali, said Sunday the primary purpose of the letter was to encourage Pastika to take firm action against those who were destroying Bali's natural environment in the name of tourism.

The letter was written because in its development program, the new Bali provincial administration had promised to halt any such projects, Wardana said.

"We must stop any plan to increase revenue through the tourism sector which is based on inexpensive property purchases and excessive exploitation of existing natural resources to and by investors," he said.

"Based on our analyses, there is a relationship between Bali's environmental problems and the large-scale expansion of the tourism industry."

Walhi Bali constitutes the largest environment organization in Bali, and consists of eight NGOs: Bali chapters of Legal Aid Institute and Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, Mitra Bali Fair Trade Foundation, Ashram Gandipuri, Limas Foundation, Bali Development Assessment and Empowerment Institute in Buleleng, Bali Santi Tabanan Working Group and Reksa Semesta Foundation.

Walhi's membership also includes dozens of individuals from throughout Bali.

The past administration had rejected the Bedugul geothermal project and Wardana expected Pastika to concur with that decision.

As for the reclamation of Yeh Poh River's downstream area, local residents have expressed strong opposition saying the project was at a location where they collected holy water for traditional rituals.

The locals also believed the project had the potential to cause negative environmental impacts and would block the community's access to the beach, which actually belongs to them.

Pastika is also urged to reject investors' proposals to manage the Dasong Forest Reserve area at Buyan-Tambilangan Lake. A number of activities have already been initiated after the investors received licenses from the Buleleng regency administration and the Forestry Ministry.

Outgoing governor Dewa Beratha was not able to stand up to pressure from the residents' strong opposition to the investors' schemes, so he did not issue any licenses.

Wardana said Walhi had also been focusing on unrestrained villa construction, including a luxury villa project at Kelating beach in Tabanan.

Over 35 luxury villas, equipped with private swimming pools, are being constructed along the beach, which, according to Wardana, do not have any licenses and are being built without first completing required environmental impact studies.

In a related development, the Badung regency administration is in the process of identifying illegally built villas as most of them are built at the edge of beaches, productive rice fields and forest reserve areas.

According to data from the Badung Tourism Office, only 411 out of 711 villas built in Badung had received licenses.

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