B

ali Governor Made Mangku Pastika has called on the residents of Bali, especially business owners in the tourist industry, to get actively involved in the province'€™s programs to fight poverty, such as house renovations.

Although Bali'€™s poverty level is the lowest in the country, Pastika said that the number living in poverty was still considered worrying.

He said Wednesday that the private sector still played a very small role in poverty alleviation, pointing out that only a few hotels and companies were willing to participate in the province'€™s house repair program, or bedah rumah. Of those participating were Ayana Hotel, which had repaired 50 houses in Bangli village, and Lippo Group, which fixed 100 homes in Gerokgak.

'€œI only remember those two [companies] the most. There were other companies, but they contributed only to a small number of houses. Many more are still absent from this program,'€ Pastika lamented.

'€œI'€™m concerned about this situation. In fact, they are building their fortune on our island,'€ the governor added.

Meanwhile, he said the province had no power but to keep pushing these companies to contribute, as creating a regulation would be going too far. '€œThis can only be a call for companies to spare their CSR [corporate social responsibility] funds for our program.'€

'€œI'€™ve been calling companies, hotels and other businesses to participate. But the response is still very low,'€ Pastika said, explaining that there were more than 10,000 houses on the island that needed renovating.

As a top holiday destination, Bali is known for its natural beauty and unique culture. Big hotels and well-developed infrastructure complement tourists'€™ visit to the resort island. However, Pastika said that people must try looking to the province'€™s remote areas to understand the actual condition.

'€œDon'€™t only look at the beautiful beaches, lakes and valleys. Try getting into the remote areas and see that there are thousands of people living below the poverty line,'€ he stated.

I Ketut Ardana, chairman of the Bali chapter of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (Asita), said that his organization was committed to supporting the provincial administration'€™s development programs.

According to Ardana, the association regularly held social events, including helping underprivileged families with food and clean water. For environmental reconstruction, he said, the association had been active for the last five years planting mangroves in an area of around 3 hectares.

Asita has also allocated special funding to finance the replacement of dead plants and cleaning out trash from the area.

'€œFor the house repair program, we will coordinate with all our members so they can participate together. The association will initiate a fundraising program to support this,'€ Ardana said, adding that Asita would also put effort into other activities, such as training poor families in tourism.

Separately, Bali Statistics Agency head Panusunan Siregar said that the island had more than 185,000 people living below the poverty line, or around 4.83 percent of the island'€™s population, in May this year.

This figure is an increase of around 2,500 people, or 0.04 percent, from the previous survey in September 2013.

Panusunan acknowledged that Bali'€™s poverty level was quite low compared to other provinces, but reminded it could get worse should the administration fail to take proper measures.

'€œIn a tourist destination like Bali, the people'€™s income varies ['€¦] if we can'€™t bridge the gap, then the disparity will become wider,'€ he said.

Categorized as poor residents are those earning below the baseline. In March, the agency set the baseline at Rp 310,321 (US$26.53) per month for urban areas, an increase of 3.98 percent compared to the base in September 2013. Meanwhile, the baseline in rural areas was Rp 271,646, up by 3.38 percent from September 2013.