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undreds of residents of Pakraman village, Denpasar staged a rally on Thursday to oppose a planned reclamation project in Benoa Bay, Bali which they believe would destroy the environment and their culture.

“The residents from 105 banjar [sub-villages] agreed to reject the reclamation in Benoa Bay,” the village’s secretary Anak Agung Putu Wibawa was quoted by tribunnews.com as saying.

Wibawa said the residents rejected the project in an effort to preserve Bali’s nature and culture as a heritage that should be inherited by their future children.

He said the opposition was also being undertaken since Benoa bay was considered a sacred area by Balinese Hindus.