Thread: Hotel owners appeal demolition order

Do you think the hotels will be forced to be demolished?

District chiefs in Bali on Sunday appealed to Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika, asking him to rethink his plan to demolish commercial buildings located near sacred Hindu sites.

The governor was meeting with both supporters and opponents of his order to demolish buildings not complying with a 2009 Bali bylaw on spatial planning that banned commercial structures within five kilometers of sacred sites.

Pastika’s order would affect 25 hotels, villas and restaurants built near Pura Luhur Uluwatu, a temple in Badung district.

The nine district chiefs who attended Sunday’s meeting, along with representatives from the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Restaurant and Hotel Association (PHRI), all said they opposed the governor’s order.

But a group of Hindu religious leaders and representatives from several environmental organizations urged the governor to follow through on the order. They maintained that the bylaw needed to be implemented and that buildings in violation of it should be torn down.

They also sought assurances the bylaw would not be revised, particularly the contentious clause banning commercial buildings from within five kilometers of sacred sites.

“The bylaw guarantees the sustainability of Bali’s environment,” said Ida Pedanda Sebali Tianyar Arimbawa, a Hindu priest at the meeting.

He said Bali was a small island and that any attempt to revise the bylaw in order to accommodate commercial interests would have a negative impact on the environment and future generations.

The district chiefs present ardently rejected the demolition of existing buildings.

“If the bylaw is proven to be ineffective then it should be revised,” said Anak Agung Gde Agung, the Badung district head.

A bylaw cannot be applied retroactively, he added, therefore it cannot be used as a legal basis to tear down buildings that were built before the bylaw was issued.

He said that before the arrival of the hotels, villas and restaurants near Pura Luhur Uluwatu, the residents of Pecatu village lived in poverty because the land is not conducive to agriculture.

Villagers, he added, had seen their lives improve with the development of tourism in the areas.

“Should we sacrifice them for the sake of the bylaw?” Gde Agung said after the meeting.

Ni Made Eka Wiryastuti, the Tabanan district chief, said bylaws were meant to improve the lives of residents, not make them more difficult.

“Think of the thousands of people who are dependent on the tourism industry for their livelihoods,” she said

Bali District Chiefs Argue Vs Hotel Demolition Plan | The Jakarta Globe

I must say I was shocked by the jumble of commercial enterprises clustered around the walk down to Pura Luhur Uluwatu. It does somewhat ruin the experience of visiting a holy place. The expensive parking with a blatant policy of charging more for non Indonesians doesn't help either. I would mind so much if all this 'crap' was situated a couple of kilometers away, so that after a peaceful walk to the temple could be enjoyed rather than the constant haranging of shopkeepers. Will this law stretch to the holy hot springs in the north? where one has to walk a 'gauntlet' of sellers or the ruined walk to Git Git waterfalls?

Originally Posted by mat

I must say I was shocked by the jumble of commercial enterprises clustered around the walk down to Pura Luhur Uluwatu. It does somewhat ruin the experience of visiting a holy place. The expensive parking with a blatant policy of charging more for non Indonesians doesn't help either. I would mind so much if all this 'crap' was situated a couple of kilometers away, so that after a peaceful walk to the temple could be enjoyed rather than the constant haranging of shopkeepers. Will this law stretch to the holy hot springs in the north? where one has to walk a 'gauntlet' of sellers or the ruined walk to Git Git waterfalls?

Not to mention the circus outside the temple on Lake Bratan,once a miracle of beauty.