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Govt to send civil servants to Bali to work from there
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Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno speaks in Nusa Dua, Bali, on March 17, 2021. (Kemenparekraf/Kemenparekraf)
T
he government plans to send a quarter of all civil servants under eight government bodies to Bali to work from there in a bid to boost the province’s battered tourist industry.
Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said the plan, which was in the “final stage of formulation,” covered the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister and the seven bodies under it.
The move is expected to increase Bali’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of this year and thereby help the province recover from five consecutive quarters of year-on-year GDP contractions.
“We think that this scheme is right on target, right on time and can produce the right benefits, because our friends in Bali need our help,” he said during a press briefing on Monday.
Bali’s economy contracted 9.85 percent year-on-year in the first three months of 2020. The resort island has been experiencing an economic downturn since the first quarter of last year, as tourism, its main source of income, has been hampered by domestic and international travel restrictions.
He also said the ministry would not revise its annual budget – currently set at Rp 4.56 trillion (US$319 million) – to accommodate the program, but he did not specify the funds earmarked for the program.
Seven ministries and government bodies under the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister are to join the Work from Bali program, namely the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, the Transportation Ministry, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, the Public Works and Housing Ministry, the Environment and Forestry Ministry and the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).
