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Pecalang ikut amankan Natal (photo by: Ni Komang Erviani)

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Fri, 12/23/2011 7:55 AM

Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Totoy Herawan Indra stated on Thursday that soldiers and Pecalang (traditional guards) would be involved in the massive security operation aimed at ensuring that the upcoming Christmas celebrations were incident-free.

“We will deploy all forces that we have to anticipate any possible threat of disturbance,” he said after inspecting the local police force in Puputan Margarana field in Renon, Denpasar.

The operation, code-named Operation Candle, will see a significant number of uniformed and well-equipped police and military officers deployed to 253 churches across Bali.

The police had also already notified the Desa Pekraman (customary villages) around those churches to place their respective Pecalang on alert. Comprised of selected male adult members of the banjar (traditional neighborhood organization) or Desa Pekraman, these volunteer-based traditional guards have won high praise in the past for protecting and securing their respective territories.

They have also regularly participated in securing the major religious events at mosques and churches, reaffirming the image of Bali as a tolerant and multi-cultural society.

The chief also disclosed that bomb squad units would be assigned to major churches. Several major churches lie in the island’s capital and there are at least three major churches in the island’s top tourism destination of Kuta.

These churches are frequented by foreign visitors and expatriates.

“We have identified the churches that will likely draw large congregations. We will adapt our security measures, including the number of personnel and type of unit attached to those specific churches,” he said.

“Not a single church will be left unguarded,” he vowed.

He said that Bali was among 14 provinces declared by the Indonesian National Police (INP) as
the top priority regions in the Christmas’ security operation. The 10-day Operation Candle will start on Dec. 23.

Among the top priority regions are Papua, Northeast Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and Jakarta. All have sizable Catholic and Christian populations.

“Bali is a priority because the Christmas celebrations here are not only attended by local Christians but also foreign visitors,” he said.

The police vowed to deploy uniformed officers to malls, arcades, tourism attractions and other places likely to draw large numbers of people during the celebration.

“So far, the security situation in Bali is OK. However, I urge the public to maintain their vigilance to anticipate any threat, including the threat of a terrorist attack,” he said.

After the brutal terrorist bombings in October 2002 and 2005, the local security forces have developed a habit of increasing their security measures at year-end.

Separately, Denpasar naval base commander Col. Wayan Suarjaya disclosed that two navy destroyers, KRI Untung Suropati and KRI Oswald Siahaan, and command ship KRI Multatuli would patrol the resort island’s waters during the year-end period.

“The ships will carry out inspections of ships and vessels in the island’s offshore areas to prevent the smuggling of persons and illegal contraband, including weapons and explosives,” he said.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/23/police-enlist-help-military-guards-secure-christmas.html

Jalan tol dan underpass diharapkan dapat mengurai masalah kemacetan lalu lintas. (photo by: Ni Komang Erviani)

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Thu, 12/22/2011 11:51 AM

The public works and state-owned enterprises ministers on Wednesday officially kicked off the construction of the Benoa-Nusa Dua toll road and Dewa Ruci underpass, the resort island’s latest efforts to cope with the severe traffic congestion that strangles its main tourist route.

The two projects are targeted to be completed by May 2013 in time for the APEC Meeting in 2013 and the Bali Summer Summit in 2013.

The 12-kilometer toll road, which will be built on 18,000 concrete pillars, is estimated to cost Rp 2.49 trillion (US$273.9 million) and a large part of it will run along the island’s southern shoreline.

“This will be the most beautiful toll road in Indonesia and will be a new icon for Bali,” said Akhmad Tito Karim, director of PT Jasa Marga Bali Tol, during the project’s groundbreaking ceremony at Benoa harbor.

The toll road, which will connect Benoa harbor, Ngurah Rai International Airport and the Nusa Dua tourism enclave, is being built under a public-private partnership involving seven state-owned enterprises: PT Jasa Marga Tbk, PT Pelindo III, PT Angkasa Pura I, PT Pengembangan Pariwisata Bali, PT Wijaya Karya Tbk., PT Adhi Karya Tbk., and PT Hutama Karya.

The Bali administration and the Badung regency administration have also invested Rp 100 billion each in the toll road project.

Besides cars, the toll road will also include a special lane for motorcycles.

The construction of the toll road will occupy 2 hectares of mangrove forest, for which the developer has received an approval from the Forestry Ministry. To compensate for the forest damage, PT Jasa Marga will plant 300,000 mangrove trees along the road.

Meanwhile, the Dewa Ruci underpass will be built on the Dewa Ruci junction, a busy intersection next to Mall Bali Galeria in Kuta. It is the critical point of convergence for traffic to and from the island’s most important tourism sites, including Ngurah Rai International Airport, Nusa Dua, Kuta, Sanur, Denpasar and Ubud. Long and prolonged gridlocks are a common sight at and around the intersection. The underpass will be 450 meters long and is estimated to cost Rp 136 billion from the state budget.

Motorists will not have to pay to use the underpass.

Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said that the construction of the toll road and underpass was part of the government’s master plan for the acceleration and expansion of economic development for Bali and Nusa Tenggara.

“We hope that this infrastructure project will be able to spur economic development in Bali and Nusa Tenggara, which mainly rely on the tourism sector, by providing easier access.”

State-owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said he appreciated the fast realization of this project.

“This project has been planned and prepared swiftly. I hope it can really be completed in 12 months,” he said, stressing that it would be a major achievement given that a 12 kilometer-long toll road in Surabaya, East Java, had taken 12 years to complete.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/22/bali-starts-construction-crucial-toll-road-underpass.html

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Bangli | Wed, 12/21/2011 8:42 AM

Coffee planters in Kintamani are facing a capital problem that is preventing them from expanding their operation, despite the coffee’s potential as an export commodity.

I Ketut Jati, head of the coffee farmers’ group, said in a discussion with Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika that there was untapped potential in this commodity that the farmers were not able to develop due to funding problems.

Jati said geographically, the land suitable for coffee cultivation in Kintamani amounted to 12,000 hectares. The land is located in Bangli regency, the northern part of Badung regency, and in Buleleng regency.

Out of the 12,000 hectares of land, only 7,000 hectares have so far been cultivated.

“Of the 7,000 hectares, 4,000 hectares have produced coffee, while the remaining 3,000 hectares is still in the early phase of cultivation,” Jati said.

The total production of Kintamani coffee reached 20,000 tons of unprocessed coffee beans per year. Limited processing facilities have hampered the farmers on developing the commodity, thus only a few farmers are able to produce ready-to-serve coffee.

Only 2,000 tons out of 20,000 tons of coffee beans could be processed into an intermediate product.

Jati said out of 65 subak (farmer groups), only 22 own processing facilities. However, there are only five advanced processing facilities that are able to produce ready-to-serve coffee.

“Most of the processing facilities are still incomplete. We only have some parts for the facilities and need more complete equipment, but we can’t afford it.”

Therefore, most farmers are only able to market intermediate products, which still have to be processed further to produce ready-to-serve coffee.

Many of the exported products are coffee beans. In November, the amount of exported coffee beans reached 18 tons, worth Rp 1.2 billion.

The coffee beans are exported to South Korea, the US, Australia,
Japan and France.

Besides the problems with facilities, the farmers also lack the capability to market their products, thus most of the marketing is carried out by third parties. “We are facing difficulties in marketing,” Jati said.

“What puts us in a more difficult situation is that most people here already have coffee plantations, so it is impossible to market the product locally since they can serve coffee from their own plantations.”

He hoped the local administration would help market their products by asking hotels to serve Kintamani coffee at various national and international events in Bali.

Governor Pastika said the administration was ready to provide processing facilities to the farmers, but could not yet give a precise time line.

“It would be better for the farmers to have more processing facilities. This would offer them added value,” Pastika said.

“Farmers can earn more benefits if they are able to produce fully finished products, instead of unprocessed ones.”

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/21/kintamani-s-coffee-planters-need-more-cash.html

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 12/21/2011 8:46 AM

DENPASAR: Prosecutors at the Denpasar District Court have demanded the judges sentence a South African woman, Nomakorinte Christabell Nyolukana, to 14 years in jail for smuggling 1 kilogram of crystal methamphetamine.

The demand is much lighter than the sentencing stipulated in the Narcotics Law, which stipulates life imprisonment or the death penalty.

At the trial’s hearing on Monday, prosecutor I Putu Gede Astawa said that the 46-year-old woman had been proven guilty of illegally importing the narcotics.

Presiding judge John Tony Hutauruk said that the facts and the evidence revealed during the trial process have proven the defendant’s involvement in drug smuggling.

The trial was adjourned until next week to hear the judges’ decision.

Nyolukana was arrested by Customs and Excise officers at the Ngurah Rai International Airport on Sept. 3, as she arrived from Doha, Qatar.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/21/s-african-woman-drug-case-faces-14-years.html

Wayan Sasag Budiman (paling kanan) bersama Gubernur Bali Made Mangku Pastika di depan gubuknya. (photo by: Ni Komang Erviani)

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Bangli | Tue, 12/20/2011 12:00 PM

A four-square-meter shack belonging to I Wayan Sasag Budiman in Kalanganyar hamlet, Yangapi village, Bangli regency, seemed wobbly. There were holes in some parts of its bamboo, wicker walls and zinc roof.

The picture of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had been put up along the front part of the shack, with pictures alongside of the national emblem Garuda Pancasila and the War of Independence hero, Gen. Sudirman.

Only two meters from the shack, however, there is a newly built, semi-permanent house made of concrete blocks, with a cement floor and asbestos roof.

The house, built using corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds from Bali’s regional development bank (BPD), has two 6.25-square-meter bedrooms, a bathroom and kitchen. The house was still empty, without any furniture.

“I am so grateful because now I have a very nice house,” said 62-year-old Wayan Sasag after he received the key for the new house from Governor Made Mangku Pastika on Sunday.

The widower, who has two children, is one of four impoverished villagers in Kalanganyar hamlet who have received better dwellings through the provincial administration’s renovation program.

Three other houses were funded by the provincial budget, while one house used funds from the BPD Bali. The fund is managed by the province’s Coordinating Board of Social Welfare Activities (BK3S), a semi-government organization chaired by the governor’s wife, Ayu Pastika.

“There are still four other villagers in our hamlet living in houses that are not fit to live in. We hope the administration can extend the program, so that all villagers here can have decent houses,” said the hamlet head, Nyoman Suweca.

The house renovation program for the impoverished households is one of Governor Pastika’s pet projects. The other projects are the Bali Mandara, which provides free, universal healthcare for all registered residents on the island, and the Simantri integrated farming system, aimed at transforming the island’s agriculture into an organic, green and energy-independent entity.

Under the program, the provincial administration has renovated 3,118 houses since early 2010. As many as 468 houses were funded by CSR programs held by private companies in Bali. There were 825 houses built using the provincial budget in 2010, and 1,825 houses this year.

BK3S chairwoman Ayu said it was not easy to ask companies to disburse their CSR funds for the program.

Ten private and state-owned companies have joined the program. “We don’t give up. We keep trying to approach companies in Bali to disburse their CSR funds for this program,” she said.

Pastika emphasized that this program is part of the efforts to eradicate poverty in Bali. He said that by renovating their houses, it is expected that people can improve their livelihoods.

According to data from the Social Services Agency in early 2010, there were 13,000 houses listed as uninhabitable. “Living in houses of substandard conditions could harm residents’ health, meaning they would not be productive; thus they could not improve their livelihoods. We start by renovating their houses, then give them healthcare insurance. We also try to provide jobs for them,” Pastika said.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/20/house-renovation-program-gets-support-companies.html

The Jakarta Post | Mon, 12/19/2011 11:10 PM

DENPASAR: Bali Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Ketut Untung Yoga Ana has asked the island’s hotels and entertainment spots to be very selective in using fireworks during New Year’s and Christmas celebrations.

“The fireworks used must have importation or production licenses from the National Police and the size should not exceed 2 inches [5 centimeters],” he said, adding that any firework larger than 2 inches would require purchase and use licenses issued directly by the National Police headquarters in Jakarta.

He stated that fireworks were a controlled substance as stipulated by National Police chief regulation No.2/2008 on the control and supervision of explosive materials.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/19/island-beat-hotels-told-use-licensed-fireworks.html

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Kuta | Mon, 12/19/2011 10:54 PM

Kuta Police on Saturday nabbed two suspects allegedly involved in the stabbing of two Australians at a discotheque in Legian, Kuta.

The first suspect, identified as Made J.A., 28, is a security guard at the Bounty discotheque, while the second suspect reportedly was J.A.’s friend, an Australian identified as 28-year-old J.L.

JA surrendered to the police at around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, while Jl. was arrested at a hotel on Jl. Poppies in Legian, Kuta, Police chief Adj. Comr. Gede Ganefo told reporters on Sunday.

“A witness recognized J.A., so we have contacted his friends and relatives, telling them to convince him to surrender. We told them that unless he surrendered immediately, we will take action against him,”

The incident, in which two Australians were stabbed, was apparently due to a misunderstanding, Ganefo said.

It started when J.A. came out of the discotheque’s rest room and accidentally nudged a visitor named Sentana. A hostile verbal exchange between the two men immediately ensued.

J.L. saw the incident and spontaneously approached them to defend J.A. and started a fight with Sentana.

“J.A. tried to help J.L. He took a knife and tried to stab Sentana several times,” Ganefo said, adding that J.A. swung the knife in a chaotic way that failed to inflict dangerous wounds on Sentana.

The knife, however, injured two Australians named Christopher Mete and Jake Benjamin Whitehead, who were standing nearby.

Mete was stabbed in the stomach, while Jake was injured on his right chest.

Sentana was injured on his left hand. Mudarti, who was trying to rescue Sentana, was also injured.

The police seized certain items of evidence, including the suspect’s blood-stained cloth.

However, the police have yet to find the knife.

“The suspect said he threw the knife in an alley beside the Sky Garden [a nearby discotheque]. We have searched for it, but we haven’t found it,” Ganefo said.

The two suspects would be charged under Criminal Code article 370, which carries a five-year sentence.

As of Sunday, Mete was still hospitalized at Sanglah, while Jake has returned to his home country after being treated at BIMC hospital in Kuta.

The incident was not the first at the Bounty discotheque. In 2009, a New Zealand man died in a brawl involving the discotheque’s employees.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/19/police-nab-suspects-over-stabbing-case.html

photo by: Ni Komang Erviani

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Fri, 12/16/2011 8:04 AM

While Bali has experienced healthy economic growth recently, reaching 5.83 percent in 2010, the island faces economic inequality problems resulting from the growing gap between the haves and have-nots, the governor says.

“We fear that this inequality will cause social jealousy, which could lead to social unrest,” Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said on Thursday.

The provincial statistics agency’s data from 2010 shows that the island’s high-income earners, who account for only 20 percent of the population, have enjoyed a growing share of the expanding economy. The remaining 80 percent of the population, meanwhile, has had to face a steadily shrinking share of the pie.

The remaining population includes middle-income earners (40 percent) and low-income earners (40 percent).

Around 42 percent of Bali’s revenue is enjoyed by its high-income earners, while 37 percent is distributed to middle-income earners and only 20.75 percent goes to low-income earners. This means the results of Bali’s economic growth have been enjoyed largely by high-income earners.

However, Made added that the widening economic gap was a common phenomenon among countries experiencing rapid growth, and assured that the government was working to reduce this gap.

The inequality of development between the south of Bali and other parts of the province has greatly contributed to this economic gap. Tourism development, for example, has been largely concentrated in the south of Bali, particularly in Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar. A survey released last year by the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association shows that Bali has 2,260 star-rated hotels, 88.5 percent of which are situated in the south of Bali.

“Therefore, I reiterate that there should be a moratorium on the development of hotels in Bali’s south, and the focus should be moved to other areas so we can have equality in development,” the governor said.

The moratorium has in fact been in place since early last year. However, it has not always been strictly adhered to by regency administrations.

“I can’t prevent regency administrations [from approving hotel developments], because I don’t have the authority, but I have asked the investment agency to divert investment to other areas,” Pastika said.

He emphasized that one of the solutions to address the gap was to select investors and only provide permits to those who could make meaningful contributions to the island.

The government has various programs aimed at reducing the economic gap, including its pro-poor, pro-growth, pro-job and pro-environment programs.

Pastika cited Simantri, an integrated agriculture program that has helped hundreds of farmer groups in Bali.

“We also provide programs for health and education to improve the quality of our human resources.”

Despite the widening economic gap, people in Bali still have better welfare than the populations in other provinces across Indonesia, such as East and West Nusa Tenggara.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/16/bali-struggles-reduce-economic-inequality.html

. (photo by: Ni Komang Erviani)

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Thu, 12/15/2011 8:36 AM

The period between 2000 and 2010 saw Bali record its highest population growth rate in the last 50 years, with the resort island’s population growing by 2.15 percent from 3.15 million to 3.89 million, statistics showed.

The growth rate during the previous four decades never exceeded 2 percent. Between 1961 and 1971, there was a 1.75 percent increase, while between 1971 and 1980 it increased by 1.69 percent. During the period 1980-1990, growth slowed to 1.18 percent, and during the following decade, from 1990 to 2000, it grew by 1.26 percent.

Over the five decades, population growth reached 118.5 percent, from only 1.78 million people in 1961 to 3.89 million people in 2010.

“In the latest decade, 2000-2010, population growth reached its peak, while during the 1980-1990 period recorded the slowest growth, which may have been due to the intensive family planning program,” said I Gde Suarsa, head of the provincial statistics agency.

The total population in Bali is relatively low when compared to other provinces on Java, for instance, or West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara, he said.

“However, in terms of the population growth, Bali ranked second in the country as the province with the highest growth rate, after Banten province, which recorded an increase of 2.7 percent between 2000 and 2010.”

In terms of population density, Bali has yet to become as densely populated as provinces on Java.

“But Bali is the most densely populated province outside Java, as evidenced by population density, which is five times greater than the average across all the provinces in Indonesia,” Suarsa added.

With the island’s total area of 5,636.66 square kilometers, which accounts for only 0.29 percent of the total area of Indonesia, population density in Bali reached 673 people per square kilometer, while the national average is only 124 people per square kilometer.

The high population growth rate in Bali is not only due to birth rates, but also a high rate of migration onto the island, Suarsa said, adding that migrants accounted for 10 percent of the island’s total population.

Most of the migrants gravitate to the south of Bali, primarily Denpasar and Badung, causing an unequal distribution of population density across the island.

“Significant population growth can be seen in Denpasar and Badung, particularly in the central, southern and northern parts of Kuta,” Suarsa said.

The migrants targeted Denpasar and Badung because the two areas offered a variety of job opportunities. In Badung, for instance, there are many hotel and restaurant construction projects taking place.

“The projects require a large number of workers; hence, many people settled in the area to make a living,” Suarsa said.

Denpasar has also been a prime target for migrants as it is the center of education and governance. Besides seeking livelihoods, people migrate to the capital city to study at university.

In response to the high population growth in Bali, Governor Made Mangku Pastika reiterated the importance of improving the quality of Bali’s own human resources, so that they would be better able to compete with the migrants.

“There are an increasing number of people coming to Bali; all of them need jobs, need places to live, and need transportation. We have to improve the quality of our human resources in Bali to be able to face the competition,” he said.

The flood of migrants to the island, however, is unavoidable, due to its fast-developing economy, which attracts people to seek better lives.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/15/bali-records-highest-population-growth-50-years.html

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Mon, 12/12/2011 11:22 PM

An Australian woman whose holiday in Bali was abruptly cut short by a violent attempted rape has identified the suspect after browsing dozens of photographs emailed to her by the South Denpasar Police.

The positive identification of a local motorcycle taxi driver led to the arrest of the suspect, who later confessed that the Australian woman was not his first victim.

The suspect was identified as I Wayan Kirnawan aka Pogot, 36, an unregistered motorcycle taxi driver. He was arrested on Monday, Dec. 5, in Pemogan but the police waited until Sunday, Dec. 11 before releasing any information to the public.

“He usually offers his service to foreign visitors in Kuta,” South Denpasar Police chief Adj. Comr. Leo Martin Pasaribu said.

The victim was identified as 24-year-old Brooke Hall, a resident of New South Wales. The incident took place at Dec. 2 at around 1 a.m. local time.

The victim had just left a Legian nightclub when the suspect approached her and offered her his motorcycle taxi (ojek) services.

The victim agreed and told the suspect to take her to Padma Hotel, where she was staying during her holiday.

The victim became suspicious when the suspect took her to a different place, later identified as the mangrove forest in Suwung, South Denpasar.

Fearing for her safety, the victim jumped off the motorcycle and ran away. The suspect chased and later assaulted her.

He tried to rape the victim but the latter defended herself and managed to escape.

The suspect, however, took her purse and made away with a digital camera and cash.

The victim immediately filed a police report before leaving the island for Australia.

Responding to the report, the South Denpasar Police launched a massive intelligence operation to find the perpetrator.

Plainclothes officers were sent to numerous places known as motorcycle taxi terminals and popular hangouts for ojek drivers.

The officers succeeded in not only collecting the personal data of the drivers but also in photographing their faces.

Toward the end of the operation, the police had in their possession the pictures of 72 registered and 23 unregistered drivers.

“Since the victim had returned to Australia, we emailed all these pictures to her. The electronic correspondence gave us a valuable result when she identified one of the pictures as the picture of the suspect,” Leo said, adding that his men immediately cast a net to arrest

the man.

During the interrogation, the suspect confessed that he had committed a similar crime on Sept. 24 at around 3 a.m. when he assaulted and tried to rape Beatrice Victoria Hendricks McGuinness, a Singaporean residing in Australia.

The victim fought back and the suspect only got away with her bag.

The police will charge the suspect under articles 365, 285 and 53 of the Criminal Code on violence, theft and attempted rape. If found guilty, he could face a maximum sentence of 13 years in prison.

The suspect expressed remorse over his behavior, claiming that he was drunk at the time and that he desperately needed cash to pay off his gambling debts.