Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Holidays in Hell: Bali Ongoing Woes

Dunia pariwisata Indonesia, khususnya Pulau Bali mendapatkan kritikan yang cukup membangun oleh Andrew Marshall melalui majalah Time. Melalui tulisannya yang berjudul "Holidays in Hell: Bali Ongoing Woes", sang penulis menceritakan tentang kondisi pariwisata di Pulau Bali yang dianggap memiliki banyak masalah, sehingga apabila berlibur ke Pulau tersebut dianggap seperti datang ke neraka. Anda penasaran dengan artikelnya...? Silahkan baca dibawah ini


Holidays in Hell: Bali's Ongoing Woes

By Andrew Marshall / Bali


The annual monsoon transforms Bali. Rain sweeps across slumbering volcanoes. Moss thickens on ancient temple walls. Rivers swell and flush their trash and frothing human waste into the sea off Kuta Beach, the island's most famous tourist attraction, where bacteria bloom and the water turns muddy with dead plankton. "It happens every year," shrugs Wayan Sumerta, a Kuta lifeguard, who sits with his love-struck Japanese girlfriend amid dunes of surf-tossed garbage. So why, in early March, did the Bali authorities warn tourists that swimming there for over 30 minutes could cause skin infections? The lifeguard tenderly strokes his girlfriend's naked leg. "I guess some people just have sensitive skin," he says. 

Itchy ocean? Just add it to Bali's growing list of seemingly intractable problems: water shortages, rolling blackouts, uncollected trash, overflowing sewage-treatment plants and traffic so bad that parts of the island resemble Indonesia's gridlocked capital Jakarta. And don't forget crime. In January, amid a spate of violent robberies against foreigners, Bali police chief Hadiatmoko reportedly ordered his officers to shoot criminals on sight. You've heard of the Julia Roberts movie Eat Pray Love, which was partly filmed in Bali? Now get ready for its grim sequel: Eat Pray Duck. (Read about Bali's travel boom.)

Most of Bali's woes stem from a problem that rival resorts would love to have: too many tourists. In 2001, the island welcomed about 1.3 million foreign visitors. Ten years later — and despite bombings by Islamic extremists in 2002 and 2005 that killed 222 people, mostly Australian tourists — the island expects almost twice that number. And there are millions of Indonesian visitors too. 

Hotels, shopping centers and restaurants are springing up everywhere to accommodate them. The cranes looming over Kuta are building at least three malls and a five-star hotel. But the less glamorous stuff — roads, power lines, sewers, parking spaces — often remains an afterthought. "The infrastructure is not keeping up with the development," says Ron Nomura, marketing director at the Bali Hotels Association. The island's lack of reservoirs, he says, is a case in point. "Can you believe there is this much rain and we don't have enough water?" (See "The Best of Asia 2010.")

When it comes to Bali, newspaper editors have a seemingly bottomless stock of "Paradise Lost?" headlines. Its rich Hindu culture is so distinctive that many people mistake the island for a separate country rather than a province of the world's most populous Muslim nation. That Bali's tourism industry has survived terrorism attacks and a global recession is a cause for pride. But amid unchecked growth and a creaking infrastructure, it is also a source of complacency. "It's like Bali is slowly committing suicide," says local journalist Wayan Juniarta. 

Bali's Governor I Made Mangku Pastika knows it. In January, he issued a moratorium on new construction in certain built-up areas, and later warned that his lush birthplace might turn into a "dry land full of concrete buildings." Pastika is popular — he investigated the bombings as Bali's then police chief — but his moratorium isn't. "Some people says he's trying to slow down Bali's growth," says Nomura. "That's not necessarily true. What he's looking for is more responsible growth." 

He probably won't find it. Nobody I talked to reckoned that Pastika's measures would influence who built what where. Bali's spiritualism might be a bewildering blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and animism, but the island's planning code is simple: if you build it, they will come. 

And on the way, they'll get stuck in traffic. Complaining about the congestion around the airport or in tourist areas like Kuta is now one of Bali's newest pastimes. Even in Ubud, the seat of the island's art and culture, once sleepy streets are clogged with buses carrying Chinese tourists, who visit the island in ever greater numbers. Vehicle ownership on Bali is rising at an annual rate (12.42%) that far outstrips the growth in new roads (2.28%), according to government statistics. "Traffic will get worse and worse," I Made Santha, Bali's traffic chief, predicted in February. 

Equally damaging to Bali's prestige is the perception among some expatriates that the island is increasingly unsafe. Lusiana Burgess, the 46-year-old Indonesian wife of a retired British pilot, was robbed and killed in her North Kuta home earlier this year and her murderer remains at large. An Australian woman awoke in her villa to be gagged and assaulted by four thieves. Then an American man was stabbed during another robbery attempt in Kuta. A week after that, police arrested and — following an apparent escape attempt — shot dead 34-year-old M. Syahri, from the neighboring island of Lombok, who was suspected of robbing a number of foreigners. 

The statistics actually show a slight decrease in serious crime from 2009 to '10. But Chris Wilkin, a former oil-company executive from the U.K. who retired in Bali six years ago, remains uneasy. "It was very quiet when I moved here," he says. "It wasn't a big attraction for the criminal classes. Now, with the boom, word has got round that there are easy pickings to be had." 

Wilkin, whose Indonesian wife rents villas to expats and knew Burgess, believes the threat of violent robbery will discourage foreigners from leasing properties in remote places. Investing in CCTV, intrusion alarms and bedside panic buttons may only "give a false sense of security," he says. Recently, Wilkin accidentally set off his burglar alarm. Nobody went to investigate, not even the private security guards in his own complex. (Read "Indonesia Arrests Cleric Linked to Bali Bombings.")

Expat anxiety hasn't dented Bali's popularity among its core visitors, the Australians. And why should it? Officially, the Australian government still advises its citizens to "reconsider your need to travel" to Bali due to a "very high threat of terrorist attack," yet more than a hundred flights arrive from Australia every week. The dangers to new arrivals are those commonly faced by tourists everywhere: dodgy food, motorbike accidents, and — as a sign at my Kuta hotel suggests ("No Jumping from Any Balcony into Pool Is Permitted") — beer-fueled misadventure.
A new terminal at Bali's shabby airport is due for completion in 2013. But unless other infrastructure is improved, this will serve only to channel yet more tourists onto a critically overburdened island. For now, however, such doubts are largely forgotten in the rush to cash in on the Bali boom. "Goodness shouts, evil whispers," runs an overused Balinese proverb. But money talks
(Sumber: www.time.com)

23 comments:

  1. Wah kok negatif begitu. semoga pariwisata bali dan indonesia terus maju dan makin mendunia.

    ReplyDelete
  2. kritik semacam ini perlu dijadikan sbg bahan refleksi bagi pengelola wisata di pulau dewata itu, mas pencerah. sbg tujuan wisata internasional, bali memang sdh saatnya menyiapkan berbagai infrastruktur penunjangnya.

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  3. Saya belum pernah liburan ke Bali
    ke Yogya aja belum :)

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  4. wah wahhh bener2 ngejatuhin bali banget artikelnya
    mungkin dia punya story jelek di sana :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. saatnya berbenah dunia pariwisata Indonesia

    ReplyDelete
  6. waduh... mbok nyuwun tulung diterjemahke... kula lare ndhusun, mas... mbotten saget cara barat...

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  7. Saya juga pernah liburan ke Bali & sudah merasakan bagaimana orang-orangnya, suasana tempatnya, jadi saya nggak heran dan saya anggap wajar jika ada tulisan seperti itu. ^__^

    Salam.

    ReplyDelete
  8. bahasa indonesia
    semoga ini bisa membuat kita semua intropeksi diri kalau memang fakta ya harus dibenahi sehingga ke depan menjadi lebih baik.
    english
    hope this will make all of us self introspection, if there is a fact, we have to make it good and so next it will better.
    base bali
    mangdane semeton bali samian mulat sarira, yening nike patut, ngiring ngemargian sane becik, mangdane pariwisate bali ngancan mecikan.

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  9. Bali, penuh dengan objek wisata yang jd impian turis manca negara,, semoga fasilitas dan kebersihannya juga ditingkatkan,, bule nyaman turis lokal juga betah,, dan jadikan berita Time itu sebuah kritikan untuk berbenah,, mereka yg mengkritik, adalah mereka yg peduli dengan cara lain terhadap Bali :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bali memang tempat wisata yang paling bagus, buktinya turis-turis yang datang kesini semuanya pada senang dan malahan mau bertempat tinggal juga disini. jadi bali itu pilihan yang pas buat semuanya berlibur :d.
    Terima kasih iya sudah di perkenankan komen salam kenal.

    ReplyDelete
  11. itu sebenarnya sampah daremana sehhh... banyak banget.....

    ReplyDelete
  12. alhamdulillah sekarang udah disikat abis..
    responnya cepet,,

    apalagi ya yg perlu disorot?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Saya sangat setuju dengan komentar yang menyatakan bahwa ini adalah cara lain dari orang lain untuk peduli dengan Bali. dan Harapan kita tentu adalah sebuah respon langsung terhadap kritikan tersebut, tidak perlu kita emosi terhadap artikel tersebut atau membalas menyerang, karena impact nya akan kontraproduktif dengan apa yang memang sebenarnya terjadi.

    Perlu kita garis bawahi, Bali pada 2000 sudah memiliki populitas 3,5 juta jiwa, dan pada 2010 jumlah sudah diperkirakan meningkat menjadi 5,5 Juta.atau peningkatan hampir sekitar 75%. Jumlah yang sangat padat untuk pulau sekecil Bali. Tidak heran peningkatan jumlah kendaraan di Bali yang secara annual meningkat 12,8% membuat kemacetan dimana-mana. Populasi yang padat membuat sanitasi air begitu buruk.

    Jika boleh kita introspeksi, sudah seharusnya pemerintah lebih berani melindungi Bali sebagai aset bangsa ini, pemerintah harus berada dalam posisi yang melihat bahwa Bali saat ini sudah over capacity, dan tidak kuat lagi menampung lebih banyak populasi. Jika memaksakan Bali terus dijejali manusia, maka artikel-artikel serupa tentu akan terus tercipta di tahun-tahun mendatang.

    Saya sangat setuju dengan beberapa wacana mengenai status otonomi khusus yang memang seharusnya diberikan kepada Bali, dan wacana status transmigrasi menuju Bali juga harus diperketat. Bukan karena tidak ingin warga dari pulau lain terus berdatangan ke Bali, tetapi lebih untuk menjaga Bali dari OVER CAPACITY yang saat ini sudah terjadi, kalau bukan kesadaran kita, dan juga kemauan kita menanggapi permasalahan dari sisi positifnya, tentu tidak akan ada pemecahan terhadap masalah ini, dan Bali akan perlahan menjadi neraka nya wisatawan...

    Just believe it or not...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bali, penuh dengan objek wisata yang jd impian turis manca negara,, semoga fasilitas dan kebersihannya juga ditingkatkan,, bule nyaman turis lokal juga betah,, dan jadikan berita Time itu sebuah kritikan untuk berbenah,, mereka yg mengkritik, adalah mereka yg peduli dengan cara lain terhadap Bali :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. owh gitu,,,
    tapi tak sedikit orang mengatakan bali itu indah,,

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mozilla Firefox se niega a colaborar con la censura en la Red impuesta por EEUU - Mozilla, la organización responsable del navegador Firefox, ha decidido plantar cara a las autoridades de Estados Unidos. Mientras éstas le solicitaban la retirada de una extensión que permite acceder a páginas web bloqueadas por uno de sus departamentos de seguridad, los responsables del navegador han respondido con un "no" rotundo a esta posibilidad.

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  17. waduh gak kebayang karena blm pernah kesana.. kapan ya bisa berlibur ke bali..

    ReplyDelete
  18. Semoga bisa dijadikan pembelajaran bagi pelaku wisata dimanapun berada

    ReplyDelete

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