Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

[tintin]

For those of you who do not subscribe to the very informative weekly newsletter, Bali Update, published by Jack Daniels, here is a piece of news worth pondering.

What's the matter with the people of Tenganan and Menaga? Wouldn't they like to play golf? Beside the promised 600 (menial) jobs, I am sure they could also negotiate some special green fees…Seriously, this is just OUTRAGEOUS!

Read on.

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Protests Mount Against Proposed Golf Course in Bali's North
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Karangasem Officials Tight-Lipped on Who are Backers for Large Golf Complex Planned for Foothills of Sacred Mt. Agung.


Vague plans to develop a 100 hectare site near Bali's sacred temple of Besakih into a golf resort complex are fomenting strong oppositon from many circles in Bali, all opposed to a resort development which has reportedly received a green light from the Regent of Karangasem.

Residents from the traditional villages of Tagenan and Menanga (near Rendang) are said to be up-in-arms over the appearance in recent days of unannounced surveyors pacing off their traditional farming lands. One local resident who's land was surveyed, quoted in Nusa Bali, insisted he was ready to wager his very life in violent opposition to any project that would violate the sanctity of the lands surrounding Bali's Mother temple complex. The man also said he could see no value whatsoever in building a golf course on his otherwise productive agricultural lands.

According to local press reports, the proposed golf resort will use 30 hectares of land owned by Subak Lipang - a 117-member traditional water district; 21.8 hectares owned by Subak Tubuh; 31.98 hectares owned by Subak Kampika; and 16.22 hectares owned by Subak Rendang. Local farmers are apparently unified in their opposition to the proposed golf course, despite promises that 600 jobs would be created once the project is completed. Local villagers are prophesizing dire material and spiritual consequences should the project go ahead, defiling in the process lands on the foothills of Mt. Agung considered sacred by the people of Bali.

Details on Investors a Mystery?

Complaining that their has been little or no socialization of the project to local residents, land owners are becoming increasingly enraged by the presence of land surveyors and low-flying helicopters seen in recent days over the area of the proposed golf course.

The Bupati of Karangasem insists that the plan for the golf course are still at an idea stage, denying at the same time rumors that the investors in the project are Jakarta-based legislators, members of the executive branch and leading press figures. Begging a follow on question from the press, the Regent told reporters, "I have never divulged the names of potential investors."

Tensions heightened on Thursday, August 2, 2007, when a group of demonstrators, representing the Young Hindu Movement, marched on Bali's Provincial House of Representatives (DPRD). The youths delivered a statement calling on Bali's Governor and the House of Representatives to refuse permission for the project which they claim will detract from the sanctity of the nearby Besakih temple. The demonstrators also called for the resignation of Regent Geredeg in Karangasem if it is eventually proven that he granted preliminary permission for the controversial project.

[Bert Vierstra]

Daniel, please mention, and if possible, link to the source of an article... And just quote a bit, not the whole thing, or repeat in your own words...

Or else your webmaster my run into copyright problems...

[JAMIE]

TIN TIN , I guess the people of Tenganan and Menaga are greedy like everone else .

[tintin]

Hi Bert,

Sorry, I did mention where this piece was being published, but not explicitly (should have contained the date, and issue number). For this once, I am sure Jack will forgive me...

...the very informative weekly newsletter, Bali Update, published by Jack Daniels,...

[tintin]

Jamie,

I'm affraid you misread the article. The people of Tenganan and Menaga are not greedy: they are AGAINST the golf project, not for it.

Local farmers are apparently unified in their opposition to the proposed golf course,...

Only the Karangasem Bupati, and probably some of his close associates, are promoting the project.

[JAMIE]

TIN , I assumed the 3 groups who sold the land where also from the area , sorry .. It"s their greed that I was reffering ..

[tintin]

Jamie,

Wrong again. The Subak2 ARE the farmers who own the lands, and they are against the project.

[Petenjo]

As I read the article, the issue is the location of the proposed golf course in that it encroaches on sacred land, and this is a fair enough argument.

But I really dont think Bali is overpopulated in golf courses with less than 1/2 dozen on the island, and the title of this thread is farcical.

There is always going to be a demand for this type of facility in locations heavily reliant on tourism, thats the way it is, and compared to the rest of Indonesia green fees are already at a premium in Bali indicating a lack of supply. But let's resist against the ruthless, greedy investors and bugger the jobs these developments create, and money they inject into the local economy.

[SamD]

Maybe I'm not reading this properly, but if the owners of the land are against the project, then how is the resort going to be built there? Surely even in Indonesia you need permission from the landowners before building on their property.

And as far as I am aware there are only three 18 hole golf courses on Bali so what is meant by the title "Yet another golf course on Bali"? The implication is that you can't walk down a road without getting nutted by a golf ball. On Bali by my calculation there is one course per 1,800 square kilometres whereas in Scotland there is one course per 145 square kilometres. So why the apparent indignation at the building of a new course? Exactly what is wrong with the idea of Balinese villagers playing golf? It is a great game, it teaches self control, sportsmanship, good manners and discipline and can be played by young and old, men and women.

Ask the people who work in the golf courses if they are happy to have a job? So what if it is 'menial' as tintin so dismissively claims? What kind of industry would tintin approve of on Bali? A space station perhaps, a brain surgery institute so all the villagers could be employed in non-menial jobs? Get real, tintin.

Sam

[Ni Luh Ann]

The thing that worries me about the proposed golf course is the loss of yet even more of agricultural land. The fact is, people need to eat. How the Bupati of Karangasem can justify converting 100 hectars of agricultural land so that a few tourists can play a round of golf is, quite frankly, beyond me.

[jogry blok]

Ni Luh Ann, I fully agree with you. Keep the argriculture land for the Balinese

[tintin]

Jamie,

NO land has been sold yet by anybody. The Bupati of Karangasem has started the "ball rolling" for the golf project. However, the area planed for the golf course involved several hundreds, of small sawa, belonging to several hundreds of small farmers who can be "convinced" to sell. I don't know exactly how many farmers are involved, but I would guess from an average subak, that we are talking about 400 farmers, that is 400 families. Although the Soeharto era is long gone, and what happen to the small families in Serangan Island, in 1988 -89, may not happen again in Karangasem, I am sure the Jakarta "mafia," through the Bupati, will make offers to the farmers "they can't refuse."

If you do not know what happened in 1988 in Serangan, let us only say that one of my Balinese friend (and boss) and his neighbor, a retired Indonesian Air Force Colonel, were the only two people who were able to stand up to the pressures, including the use of soldiers, to sell their pieces of land.

[tintin]

Petenjo,

There is nothing "farcical' about the title of this thread, and your remarks just show how little you know about Bali and the Balinese society.

- First, and correctly I might add, you pointed out the first problem which is of religious nature. If you think that the Nirwana Golf Course, in 1994, had a problem to become a reality, wait for this project on the flank of Gunung Agung, a stone-throw from Pura Besakih! The construction of the Nirwana Golf Course in 1994-95 led to huge demonstrations against it, the closest thing contemporary Bali came to a revolution, and its construction was delayed by more than one year. The project controversy was many folds: environmental, social, cultural and especially religious, and it will be the same, even worse for this envisioned project on Gunung Agung. The army cracked down on the demonstrators, in early 1994, sending many of them to the hospital, and Tempo, Editor and DeTIK had their licenses to publish removed for political criticism. No matter that we think that things have changed in Indonesia since the fall of Soeharto, the "Jakarta mafia" (the "investors") is still pulling the strings.

- Second. There is a growing water shortage in Bali. It is hard for the casual tourist who sees all the water flowing in the ditches along the roads, in the padis, etc, to believe so, but it is a fact that Bali is running out of water. Hydrologists predict that in about 5 years max., there will be a real crunch in the delivery of water. Several years ago, there was a large pipeline project to bring more water to the Badung Regency, which includes Denpasar of course, and also Kuta, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua area to supply the need of the news hotels and other facilities catering to tourists. These facilities consume huge amount of water compared to the Balinese. But since the ban to build new large hotels in other places than Nusa Dua has been de facto lifted, the water crunch is coming to other parts of Bali. This is particularly true, even without the hotels, in the Karangasem Regency, where the water shortage has always been a chronic problem.

I don't know where ex-Governor Ida Bagus Oka's (also known as Ida Bagus "OK") development plans are at this time, but I seem to remember that he had planned no fewer than 20 tourism zones, with no less than 10 new golf courses to join the 3-½ already built. Given the fact that a
golf course typically consumes 2.3 million liters (500,000 gallons) of water daily, just tell me how it would work.

Added the water problem, the beautiful greens and their surroundings are kept alive not only with lots of water, but also with tons of pesticides and fertilizers, lots of which find their way in the water supply.

- Third. Balinese society is an agricultural society. All its traditions and culture are based on the land, and the farmers who have been working it for millennia. The more farmers sell their lands for tourism projects -- hotels, amusement parks, and the supporting infrastructure, the faster Bali will loose its unique millennium-old character: it will just become another Hawaii or Tahiti, minus the wilderness that still can be found there. To some sociologists, it would seem that the point of no return for this demise has already been reached

- Fourth. Jobs created. What job created? The developers claim that 600 jobs will be created. Big deal! There are many times that many people in need of a job in the estimated 400 families which will loose their livelihood as farmers when they sell their fields? It will take more than 600 jobs for sure to provide a decent subsistence to all these people. Many will have to migrate to the "big City" in search of a job. As for the money "injected in the local economy," given that more than 80% of all the revenues from the tourist industry (hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, etc) leave Bali, forget it. I am sure that the typical golfer will not subsidize the local warungs of the adjacent villages.

[tintin]

SamD,

For an answer to your first remark, please see "First" in my above comments to Petenjo.

So Scotland turned its country into a maxi-golf course. I'll take Bali over Scotland any day, would it be only for the weather (and, of course, for the Balinese people). So, let people go to Scotland and enjoy the beautiful golf courses there. Bali without additional golf courses will survive well, thank you very much.

Scots play golf, Balinese don't (except for one of my good, well-to-do Balinese friend and some of his friends who are mad about golf). If the average green fee is about US$80-100 for an 18-hole round, tell me how can the average, displaced farmer, with an average (before he sold) of about US$1.00/day, afford to play? The average salary at this, as it is at any other golf course in Bali, is about Rp300,000/month (US$33.!!). I guess he/she would have to starve 3 months to afford a round…At least now, the farmers' families owning sawa are not starving, and they are mostly all employed.

Finally, I would say that your last remark is condescending and almost racist. You obviously do not know that 6 young people from the about 60 children in 110 families which live in Tenganan village are presently studying at the University in Denpasar. Who knows, they might become doctors, engineers, etc, even physicists? What I would propose is that "if it is not broken don't fix it," and let the different communities be as they are now, with their own way of living, without being displaced by greedy outsiders from Jakarta, who have no respect and considerations for others, but only for the mighty big buck..

PS. I would add that there is nothing wrong with golf, beside the fact that it is borrrring.

[BaliLife]

i think... u can't stop development providing such is within a legal framework... If this land belongs to individuals unwilling to sell, then that should be the end of the story - too bad for the developer.. if these lands are deemed sacred, but the owners are willing to sell (not the case I know), then the gov't should have a kind of heritage protection order on it.. the positive things that come from this type of development need to be considered also when debating this.. at the end of the day, if owners are willing to sell and there's no zoning issue, then it's all fair play..

ct

[Petenjo]

tintin,

See BaliLife's logical comments above. No-one is endorsing the forced development of sacred land or displacement of legally entitled inhabitants. Your prolonged rant on the misdeeds of former regimes belongs on another forum. In fact I find it 'condescending and almost racist' to the Indonesian people your inference that the only way development occurs in Indonesia is through a process of bribery, corruption and fascist strongarm land theft. God forbid a landowner may see an opportunity to provide for their children an alternative to a life of manual labour in the rice paddies.

Water use? Nice stats, but we're talking Bali which is in the tropics and has significant natural precipitation and not some resort in the Arizona desert.

I'll retract labelling your subject line as 'farcical'. How about 'idealistically naïve'