Bali hotels, restaurants warned about pollution

Scores of Bali’s economy hotels and restaurants have been reprimanded by the government environmental protection agency after a recent survey found that the establishments did not have proper waste disposal and treatment facilities, a senior official said on Friday.

“We have sent a warning letter to the management of those establishments requiring them to immediately carry out steps to improve their waste treatment systems,” Bali Environmental Agency head Anak Agung Gde Alit Sastrawan said.

Yet, Sastrawan could not detail the deadline the agency had imposed for the improvements. He added that the agency expected the hotels and restaurants to take necessary measures immediately.

“I think the important point is that all the managers have agreed to improve their waste treatment systems and facilities,” he added.

He warned that the agency would take stronger measures if the managers failed to fulfill their promises.

“We have a segmented approach to this problem, with each measure stronger than the last one. If the management repeatedly refuses to implement the required improvements, then we may enforce the final measure, which is closing the establishment,” he said.

Those establishments were identified in a survey carried out from May to June this year by the agency of 44 tourism businesses and privately owned factories including fish-canneries and garment factories along Bali’s southern coast.

The survey found that 40 percent of the surveyed sites did not have proper waste disposal or treatment facilities. Consequently, their waste was polluting the surrounding environment.

“The majority of these polluters are economy hotels in Sanur, Kuta and Candidasa,” Sastrawan said, adding that all starred hotels included in the survey had proper waste treatment facilities.

The economy hotels and restaurants identified as polluters in the survey lacked industrial grade waste disposal and treatment facilities as required by a government regulation. The establishments only had household-grade septic tanks, which could not prevent dangerous bacteria and other substances from contaminating the soil, ground water or ocean.

“The pollution levels around these establishments ranged from very low to moderate. Fortunately, it has yet to reach a level that is dangerous to human life, and the survey did not find any traces of heavy metal pollution,” he said.

The survey was a follow-up to the agency’s research of Bali beaches in 2010. Laboratory testing of
water samples confirmed that 13 beaches in South Bali were polluted, including the ones near popular resort areas.

Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association’s (PHRI) Bali chapter secretary Perry Markus said the association was fully committed to protecting the environment.

“We request that the agency send us the list of those hotels and restaurants so we can assist them in implementing the required measures to protect the environment,” he said, highlighting the fact that environmental awareness has increasingly influenced the tourism industry.