T

hese are my comments on a two articles: '€œLarger Gov'€™t role urged for Buleleng airport'€ (The Jakarta Post, April 19) and '€œForeign investors eye new airport in Buleleng'€ (Bali Daily, April 24'€).

Since the plan for a second Bali airport was first dreamed up in 2009 by former culture and tourism minister Jero Wacik, it has not ceased to spark controversy among local observers.

Last year, Prof. Wayan Windia of Udayana University bluntly stated: '€œIf the development of the second international airport is realized, then the destruction of Bali cannot be avoided.'€

No final decision has ever been made on the exact location but, rather surprisingly, last week we were informed that the Buleleng administration had received a '€œpreliminary feasibility study'€ from a local investor who wished to invest in the '€œplanned'€ international airport.

Your article did not reveal the identity of the local investor behind the Bali Development Corporation but the former chairman of the Bali Tourism Board was quoted stating that '€œNgurah Rai airport'€™s capacity may only sustain the island for the next 10 years.

With 25 million visitors annually arriving at the airport, by 2025, we will need to have a second airport ready to operate to avoid excess load at the existing Ngurah Rai, so now is indeed high-time to build this new airport.'€

I would suggest it is high-time to initiate a further public discussion whether this second airport is really needed and even if 25 million visitors in 2025 should be a goal.

Over the past decade and a half, tourism authorities have been hooked on setting yearly 10 percent growth targets for tourist arrivals, while trade professionals have been happily singing the same song, but the conclusion that a second airport is an absolute must seems rather premature.

You only have to drive up and down Sunset Road to see what these private Bali development corporations achieve when given free rein.

So far, the result has been a part of Bali being turned into a mirror image of Jakarta.

I fear that if these so-called local investors are allowed to further pursue tourist dollars with little concern for environmental or human consequences, their greed and shortsightedness will ruin what is left of the relatively pristine part of the island and its authentic character.

A second airport on the north coast would spark a wildfire of speculation but there is absolutely no need to recreate a Sunset Road in Buleleng. Rather than spending Rp 2.6 trillion (US$267.80 million) on an airport that is not needed, any available funds should be used on infrastructure projects, such as elevated toll roads and a monorail system.

Sensible planning for the future should not be based on the short-term interests of those in power in one regency but on the long-term interests of the island as a whole.

Willem Loots,
Seseh Beach, Bali