Tourism against Benoa Bay project

With the bursting population of the world, the developing technology has proved handy to support the lives of all. But the major concern arises as we look on the flipside of the matter. Environment is ‘paying’ for every step technology is taking further be it in any sphere of life – space science or daily household needs. Luxury and comfort has become the destiny of everyone. For more updated Tourism News, 

A very dilemmatic case has sprung dealing with the Benoa Bay development plan. The locals are not in favour of the plan of building massive tourist accommodation and entertainment site on the island. They complain that the island is known for the culture and the natural beauty. Building of entertainment site that includes luxury hotels, Formula 1 racing tracks and Disney- like park will have disastrous consequence to the ecosystem of around.

Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati, chairman of Bali Chapter of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) adding strength to the voice of the locals said that the tourists visit the place because of natural beauty and culture and not for entertainment. He added that this project will show negative impact on the socio-cultural life of the inhabitants. Supporting the views of the people he gave a concrete example of the bad effect that occurred due to the land reclamation near Serangan Island. The construction there had impact on the sea current and also caused irresistible abrasion in coastal areas.

However, Sukawati’s view that the inhabitants feel themselves responsible for protecting the environment on the Island was ridiculed by Governor, Made Mangku Pastika. Pointing towards the rejection of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah Park- which now provides one of the best facilities of the world- by Jakarta, the governor said that the people were too negative over such an impressive idea. The governor proposed that it was better to build such massive projects on the allotted land then using other productive and fertile land.

Inspite of convincing talk of the governor the inhabitants were not impressed to open a massive tourist accommodation and entertainment site on the island which already harbours more than 161 star rated hotels,  around 1026 non- starred hotels and over 1,016 home stays.