Thread: Denpasar is 3rd in Clean & Green by promoting bicycle use

This one caught my eye - I haven't noticed them promoting bikes, but then maybe I don't watch in the right places.

Clean & Green Cities


City of culture, Yogyakarta, takes home the coveted Green Region awards for 2011.


The Indonesia Green Region Awards (IGRA) for 2011 were announced recently, and out of a bevy of 36 cities/regencies ten were chosen as finalists, with the top five ending up as:

Yogyakarta
Surabaya
Denpasar
Palangkaraya
Banda Aceh
The also-rans from the finalists were Payakumbuh (West Sumatra), Kuningan (West Java), Berau (East Kalimantan), Jepara (Central Java), and Gorontalo city (Gorontalo).

Sonny Keraf, a member of the IGRA selection panel, said Yogyakarta was tops for cleanliness because of its 3 R's program - (reduce, reuse, and recycle) - which had succeeded in reducing the daily rubbish pile by 28%, and as it had freed up lots of land for park space, and 'revitalised' the rivers.


Surabaya had apparently managed to double the amount of green space in the city, while Denpasar had made heroic efforts in the direction of promoting bicycle use over vehicles. Palangkaraya had set aside vast areas of jungle as protected, while Banda Aceh's environmental charms left Sonny silent.

Full report at: http://www.indonesiamatters.com/1459...-green-cities/ - the comments at the bottom are worth a look.

Denpasar has introduced a bike only area around the Renon area on Sundays, while this is a step in the right direction , it hardly is turning Denpasar into a green city.
One only has to drive up Jln Cokrominato and see the piles of rubbish dumped at the edge of the road.At least they have rubbish trucks to pick it up daily , but why can't this be put into some sort of bin, intead of festering in the sun all day.....Bali is as close to being Green as l am to flying to the moon.

...Denpasar had made heroic efforts in the direction of promoting bicycle use over vehicles...

Really? I must have blinked too quickly.

Totally agree with motormouth's comment. The Renon Sunday thing is supposed to be a car-free area (until 11 or 12 o'clock). The trouble with that is if you want to drive into Denpasar via Renon on a Sunday morning, the traffic gets diverted into tiny side streets that can't cope with the traffic. Major grid-locks in them. I fail to see how that's any kind of "improvement". Pure, unadulterated bullshit, in my opinion.

Earlier today, I had the "pleasure" of driving up Jl Cokrominato to Ubung. A nightmare. I thank the gods that I have a good on-board sound system, nerves of steel, the patience of a saint, AC and that it wasn't Sunday.

I read the report that ronb referred to above. My favourite comment from it was from "ET"...

Heroic efforts??? What efforts? As long as people here consider riding a bicycle as only befitting children and peasants there will be a heck of a lot more needed than sosialisasi programs to change Balinese gengsi attitude. At 4,500 Rp per liter gasoline why would anyone mandi keringat pushing the pedals and risk scorn and ridicule?

And death, from fumes and getting run over.

Bikes are a pain in the ass full stop, with the amount of traffic the roads theres just no room for them. Nothing worse then being stuck behind a group of 12 year olds peddling 10km an hour riding 3 a breast.

Originally Posted by JohnnyCool

Earlier today, I had the "pleasure" of driving up Jl Cokrominato to Ubung. A nightmare. I thank the gods that I have a good on-board sound system, nerves of steel, the patience of a saint, AC and that it wasn't Sunday.

Its even worse going back the other way, I came back from Singaraja the other day during peak hour, it took my 1 and a half hours to get from the Ubung statue to the first set of lights near Tiara Grosir, the police had lost all control of that area.

...the police had lost all control of that area...

Are you implying that there are times when the police here actually have "control" or know what they're doing?

Driving in "peak hour" is usually best avoided in any big town or city, anywhere on the planet. If you really have to (no choice), grin and bear it. Watch a movie on your in-car TV system, have a "conversation" with the schoolgirls on their motorbikes right next to you, greet the people stewing to death in the pseudo-sauna bemo on your other side, take photos/movies, write a song in your head, glare meaningfully at pushy bus and truck drivers as if to say bugger off, take time to reflect upon why you're here in the first place, turn your car stereo up to 11/10 and enjoy the thumbs-up you'll probably get for being a cool dude, etc.

If you're really stuck and the steps above aren't helping, create a diversion. Get out of your car and tell the police you have to have a piss, right now and need instant directions to the nearest toilet. Throw a bunch of Rp 1000 notes on the ground and watch the ensuing mayhem (capture it on your camera and upload it to Youtube). Stuff like that.

Copy and pasted into the brain, I should of actually done what my dog did and taken a nap.

I think Balinese has switch their mindset and made the bicycle become their new trendy vehicle

I have noticed a lot of people routinely burning off plastic and throwing plastic in the rivers, does that help reduce watse ? :)

Bali waste management...throw it, burn it.

Originally Posted by BKT

Bikes are a pain in the ass full stop, with the amount of traffic the roads theres just no room for them. Nothing worse then being stuck behind a group of 12 year olds peddling 10km an hour riding 3 a breast.



Its even worse going back the other way, I came back from Singaraja the other day during peak hour, it took my 1 and a half hours to get from the Ubung statue to the first set of lights near Tiara Grosir, the police had lost all control of that area.

Always amazing to me when a someone moves to another country and thinks they own the road, in this case, quite literally. - AB