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nother gigantic tourism development plan is being pondered by Bali provincial administration, awaiting its approval.

The huge reclamation project at Benoa Bay would see development of luxury tourist facilities, including a Disneyland-like theme park, apartments, hotels, villas and entertainment centers.

The investor, PT Tirta Wahana Bali International, which also manages Discovery Shopping Mall and Discovery Hotel in Kuta, plans to reclaim 400 to 600 hectares of land at Benoa Bay.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika told journalists Saturday that he was studying the proposal and had not made any decision on whether to accept or reject the proposal.

'€œWe will comprehensively study the planned development project in detail. People should not immediately have a negative response to any development plan before knowing about it thoroughly,'€ Pastika said.

'€œIf I find that the project would give us positive output, why should we refuse it?'€ the governor said, adding that he would of course reject the plan if it would damage the environment and the people.

Previously, the Udayana University'€™s Environmental Study Center had conducted a feasibility study on the proposed project.

The study revealed that the planned development project '€œcould be implemented.'€ The 73-page feasibility study revealed the plan to reclaim the western part of Tanjung Benoa and areas near Benoa Harbor.

The investor intends to build facilities on 50 percent of the reclaimed land and leave the remaining area as a green zone. The planned reclaimed area would be accessible through the new Nusa Dua-Tanjung Benoa toll road.

The feasibility study covered technical, environmental and sociocultural aspects. Viewed from the technical side, the reclamation project is claiming to reduce the impact of tsunamis, erosion and abrasion. It would also reduce traffic congestion in the southern part of the island.

From an environmental point of view, the study found that the reclamation of Tanjung Benoa could be conducted without damaging the coastal ecosystem. In fact, it could repair the environmental quality in the surrounding areas, the study stated.

'€œRather than adding to land conversion, turning agricultural sites into industrial and business complexes, it would be better if we used reclamation, such as in Singapore and Hong Kong,'€ the governor added.

However, Pastika said he would establish a team comprising academics and community leaders to decide whether the reclamation and development projects were viable.

Wayan Suardana, chairman of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Bali, said that he was confused with the result of the feasibility study conducted by the team from Udayana University.

'€œHow can they say that the reclamation will reduce the impact of tsunamis and improve the environmental quality in Tanjung Benoa. We have the very bad example of Serangan reclamation, which already damaged the environment.'€

The reclamation of Serangan Island worsened the environmental condition due to the accumulation of pollutants and sediment. '€œWe strongly reject that idea of reclaiming at Tanjung Benoa.'€