Indonesia: Bali Approves Hotel Construction Moratorium
Indonesia's government has approved a moratorium on building hotels, villas, and nightclubs on the island of Bali. Government officials said the reasons for the policy include protecting the environment and Indigenous culture....
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Facts
- Indonesia's government has approved a moratorium on building hotels, villas, and nightclubs on the island of Bali. Government officials said the reasons for the policy include protecting the environment and Indigenous culture.[1][2]
- According to Acting Governor Sang Made Mahendra Jaya, the moratorium, which is to occur in the Sarbagita region, is set for one to two years, but potentially up to 10 years. He added that the main goal is to slow commercial development on rice fields.[3][2]
- According to another government official, the 200K foreigners now living in Bali — alongside the 2.9M tourists already welcomed this year — has also allegedly resulted in increased crime and competition for jobs.[3]
- Regarding construction projects on top of rice fields, Gov. Jaya said developers must submit a permit request that will be reviewed by central Indonesian authorities rather than Bali's provincial government.[2]
- This comes as tourism throughout Indonesia reached 7.75M through July this year, the most since 2020 and an almost 21% increase from the year before. In Bali, which receives 65% of Indonesia's tourists arriving by air, there are 541 hotels, up from 507 in 2019.[3][4]
Sources: [1]Reuters, [2]The Bali Sun, [3]CNBCTV18 and [4]Jakartaglobe.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Technique. Besides the environmental issues, from water allocation to pollution and littering, tourism has led to cultural decay, largely thanks to tourists disrespecting local populations and their religious sites. If tourism was cut back, Bali could save its cultural identity while also propping up its economy through marine and agricultural industries. This is not a zero-sum game.
- Narrative B, as provided by Al Jazeera. Balinese culture has sustained and even integrated itself with foreign visitors for almost a century. As children continue to learn traditional worship, dress, and art, they also monetize their culture by performing for and selling merchandise to tourists. As long as local populations are able to maintain their traditional lifestyle on their own terms, tourism shouldn't be a problem.
