Contiki resort accused of unfair dismissals

Some 109 former employees of Contiki Resort Bali, a recently disbanded 133-room hotel on Jl. Abimanyu in Seminyak, have accused the resort’s owners of improperly laying them off as part of a management shake-up.

The mass lay-off began on Oct. 25, when the owners of Contiki declared the resort was losing money and had to be shut down.

Illegal beauty goods worth Rp 2.5b seized

Officers of the Denpasar Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency seized a large quantity of illegal drugs and beauty products worth about Rp 2.5 billion (US$201,000), a senior official said Friday.

The confiscated products either were not legally approved for distribution or contained dangerous chemical substances.

Governor upset over small returns from local govt assets

Ni Komang Erviani , Contributor , The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Fri, 11/21/2008 11:27 AM | Bali
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika has inspected several government properties to verify allegations that those assets, which had been leased to private companies, failed to yield satisfying financial returns for the Bali administration.
Pastika disclosed the inspection aimed at re-identifying the administration’s assets and determining whether the assets had been properly managed.
“We have assets in various places all over the island. If these assets are not being managed and utilized properly then they will become unproductive assets,” he said Sunday.
Pastika concluded that a large number of the administration’s assets had not been utilized properly. The Bali administration has a total of 3,500 properties on the island.
The inspected properties are several hectares of land on various parts of the island, including a 4.7 hectare plot in the complex of Garuda Wisnu Kencana cultural park in Jimbaran and a 8.98 hectare plot on Padanggalak beach, Sanur.
The latter was at the heart of the ongoing public controversy over the administration’s unproductive assets.
The inspection found out the property had been leased to PT Abdi Persada Nusantara, which in 1997 constructed upon the land various amusement facilities. The company planned to transform the beachside property into a theme park: Taman Festival Bali.
The plan somehow failed when the financial crisis of 1998 paralyzed the country’s economy. Construction projects were put on hold and the workers abandoned the plot. The land has seen no activity since eight years ago. Only dilapidated buildings and as many as 100 crocodiles, brought in as part of the planned theme park, now occupy the plot of land.
Former project officer of the park, Lidyawati urged the administration to assist the company in continuing the project.
“We hope the governor will help us bring the park back to life,” she said.
On the previous day, a similar inspection was also conducted on a 1,128 hectare plantation in Pulukan village, Jembrana, and a cow farm in Baturiti village, Tabanan.
The Pulukan plantation is the largest land property owned by the Bali administration. The plantation grows rubber trees, Albesia, coconuts and vanilla. Unfortunately, the plantation has yet to contribute something to the administration’s coffer.
“Up until now, the administration still allocates a special fund to finance the maintenance and operational costs of this plantation,” Pastika said.

Firms tapping water illegally: Officials

Around 1200 businesses in Bali are still using underground water without a permit, Bali Income Agency officials say, posing environmental risks and depriving the region of much needed income from taxes.

Putu Ardhana, head of the Bali Income Agency, said nearly 60 percent of the approximately 2000 businesses operating in Bali were illegally tapping underground water. Many of the business are allegedly hotels and restaurants.

“And there may be even more businesses illegally accessing water that we haven’t yet caught,” Ardhana said during a technical meeting for underground water maintenance in Hotel Puri Ayu, Denpasar, Wednesday.

He said water theft had cost the province billions of rupiah, which “could have been used for other, useful, public service projects”.

He said the agency had aimed to collect Rp 8.5 billion (about US$720,000) in taxes on underground water sources this year but as of October had only received Rp 7 billion.

“The discrepancy is due to these businesses continue to draw use water without a permit, and it is costing the province valuable tax income,” he said.

Ardhana said the agency aims to gain Rp 10 billion from the tax next year.

He was optimistic that the agency could reach its target, educate businesses on the importance of taxes and crack down on businesses that continue to evade payments.

Ardhana said he was also concerned about the harm these businesses posed to the environment.

“This matter is not just about collecting income from taxes but preventing businesses from exploiting water sources,” he said.

Sudirman, head of the Bali Environmental Center, said Bali had been experiencing a reduction in underground water levels, which he blamed on the over-use of the resource.

“These businesses are to blame for the falling levels of underground water. They cannot deny this anymore,” he said.

Meanwhile, secretary general of the Indonesia Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI), Perry Markus, admitted that many hotels and restaurants in Bali were still illegally tapping underground water.

Perry said the association was currently educating its members on the importance of obtaining proper permits and urged its members to apply for them.

“But as an association, we cannot force our members. All we can do is encourage them,” he said.

Management warned over methods

Hundreds of state-run landfills in Indonesia still carry out poor practices when managing garbage, a senior official says.

“There are around 300 TPAs (Tempat Pembuangan Akhir) across the country and over half still practice open dumping,” the Director of Housing Health Development, Ir. Soesmono said last week on the sidelines of the International Workshop on Technology for Sanitary Landfill.

TPAs receive garbage from households, smaller landfills and private garbage disposal companies.

“Only a small number of TPAs process and manage garbage using proper methods,” he said.

Open dumping poses a serious threat to the health of people living near landfills and causes air, water and soil pollution. The methane released by decaying organic waste contributes to greenhouse gases that damage the ozone layer and create health risks for the human population.

Soesmono said the country’s major cities produced a huge amount of garbage on a daily basis. Jakarta produces 8,000 tons of garbage per day, Bekasi 1,000 tons, Bandung 1,500 tons and Denpasar 800 tons.

This massive amount of waste production, combined with improper processing methods, posed significant risks for the future, Soesmono said.

The government has set a target, under directives stipulated by the 2008 Garbage Management law, that by 2013 all state-run TPAs will have abandoned open dumping practices.

“If a TPA continues disposing waste in this fashion, then the head of the respective local administration would be punished,” Soesmono said.

The law stipulates that such a violation could result in a prison sentence of up to three years and a maximum fine of Rp 100 million.

Soesmono said “sanitary landfill”, a method using clay liner to isolate the trash from the environment, was the best alternative to open dumping. This method is not only friendly to the environment, but can transform garbage into compost, electric power and plastic granules.

The implementation of this “sanitary landfill”, however, is expensive and requires an initial investment of up to Rp 5 billion to process just one hectare of trash. The operational cost ranges from Rp 60,000 to Rp 100,000 per single ton of garbage.

“The high cost has made it difficult for the local administration to build TPAs that adopt this method,” Soesmono said.

Hume reminds RI of global challenges

The U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron R. Hume on Thursday reminded people about the ongoing global financial crisis that could pose another difficult challenge for Indonesia.

“The crisis won’t make things easier for Indonesians. They have to pay more to access the credit markets … and economic slowdown lessens demand for their exports,” he told an international conference titled “Building an Asia Pacific Community: Unity in Diversity”.

The global crisis, Hume said, would burden the people and government of Indonesia who were already struggling with many difficult challenges including increasing poverty and unemployment.

Hume offered three broad tips to face the challenges. The first one was faithful implementation of the rule of law, including the anti-corruption reform.

The second was to improve education, particularly the higher education sector, to create a better educated workforce and a larger middle class, so it could become a competitive, expanding market in the changing global economy.

The third tip concerned with the re-ordering of economic priorities to attract more foreign investment and take advantage of the increasingly connected 21st century economy, Hume added.

Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie, who attended the conference, said it was necessity to devise appropriate responses to the global crisis.

“If (we) are not very careful (in coping with the crisis), a bigger crisis could take place,” he said.

The international conference was expected to formulate common responses for Asia-Pacific nations in dealing with the crisis.

The conference also discussed other important international issues, such as democracy and Islam, and global warming.

Some 500 participants attended the three-day conference which was jointly organized by the East-West Center, a U.S.-based education and research center, and its alumni association.

Established in 1960, the center aims to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the U.S. It has built a worldwide network of more than 55,000 alumni and 600 partner organizations.

U.S. consul general praises RI’s work to curb terrorism

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

U.S. Consul General Caryn R. McClelland has praised Indonesia’s commitment to combating terrorism, saying the decision to execute three men for their involvement in the 2002 Bali bombing would reassure tourists about Bali’s security.
“I agree that Indonesia has demonstrated its commitment to maintaining security and has worked very very hard to combat terrorism,” McClelland said after a courtesy visit to Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika at the governor’s office in Denpasar on Wednesday.
McClelland was referring to the recent executions of Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, three perpetrators behind the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, most of whom were foreign nationals, including seven Americans.
She said she was optimistic Bali would remain secure after the execution, despite the call for “retaliation” by a small group of the bombers’ supporters during the lead-up to the executions and the days following.
She said the United States had no plans to issue a travel warning after the execution, unlike Australia, which issued a warning not long before the execution took place.
“Of course all Americans have to be careful after the execution,” she said.
“But we have not issued any travel warning specifically for Bali or for Indonesia.”
McClelland, who is the U.S. consul general in Surabaya responsible for 16 provinces including Bali, further praised Bali’s security system, which she said had shown significant improvement.
“It has demonstrated, over the year, that Bali is a safe place to travel to,” she said. “I feel secure and safe at the moment and I hope it will continue that way.”
She was also optimistic the executions would lead to an increase in the number of travelers from the United States to Bali.
“I think the number of American tourists coming to Bali are up and Americans will continue to visit Bali,” she said.
I Gede Nurjaya, head of the Bali Tourism Agency, confirmed that the number of Americans visiting Bali has been on the rise.
“I hope now that the bombers have been executed, more American tourists will come to Bali,” Nurjaya said.
He said the agency remained concerned about the effects of the credit crunch in the United States, saying it would continue to closely monitor the numbers of Americans coming to Bali.
“There are no visible effects yet on the number of American tourists coming to Bali, and we hope that there will actually be no effect from (the credit crunch),” he said.
According to the Bali Tourism Agency, U.S. tourists form the 10th largest national group of tourists to the island.
The top nine countries by number of tourists are, in order, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
From January to September this year, 52,340 Americans visited Bali, a 28.93 percent increase on the same period last year, when there were 40,597 visitors from the United States.

Menbudpar: Eksekusi Amrozi Cs Tak Pengaruhi Pariwisata

okezone >News
Ni Komang Erviani
Kamis, 13 November 2008 – 16:00 wib

GIANYAR – Pelaksanaan eksekusi mati terhadap trio Bom Bali I, Amrozi cs dipastikan tidak mempengaruhi iklim pariwisata nasional.

Travel warning beberapa negara terhadap warga negaranya agar tidak berkunjung ke Indonesia menjelang eksekusi Amrozi cs terbukti tidak mempengaruhi angka kunjungan wisatawan.

Hal tersebut disampaikan Menteri Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata Jero Wacik saat berceramah di hadapan siswa SMA Se-Bali tentang kebudayaan di Ubud, Gianyar, Bali Kamis (13/11/2008).

Menurut Wacik, travel warning dari beberapa negara menjelang eksekusi terpidana bom Bali I beberapa waktu lalu sama sekali tidak mempengaruhi pariwisata di Indonesia.

“Saya punya feeling dan saya punya angka. Feeling saya mengatakan tidak akan berpengaruh, sedangkan untuk angka terutama Bali kini menunjukkan peningkatan,” kata Wacik.

Angka kunjungan wisatawan asing ke Bali, ujarnya, sudah mencapai 6.000 wisatawan per hari. Angka ini meningkat dari angka normal yang hanya 4.500 wisatawan asing per hari. “Eksekusi itu tidak mempengaruhi pariwisata, mudah-mudahan kita semua mengerti inilah proses hukum, dan sudah berjalan dengan baik,” ujarnya.

Banyaknya teror bom pascaeksekusi juga dipastikan tidak mempengaruhi minat wisatawan asing untuk datang ke Indonesia. “Tidak ada pengaruhnya. Wisatawan akan tetap datang,” tambahnya.

Berdasarkan data Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata, jumlah wisatawan asing yang mengunjungi Indonesia pada 2008 dibanding tahun 2009 periode Januari hingga Agustus meningkat 12,73 persen.

Jumlah wisatawan asing pada periode Januari hingga Agustus 2007 mencapai 3.610.049 orang. Pada periode yang sama tahun 2008, jumlah wisman yang mengunjungi Indonesia menjadi 4.069.474 wisatawan.

Pasar wisata terbesar untuk Indonesia masih diduduki Singapura dengan jumlah 638.834 orang wisatawan. Diikuti Malaysia dengan jumlah wisman mencapai 441.523 orang wisatawan.

Gandhi, Sihanouk get Soekarno Prize

Two leadership figures from Asia, Mahatma Gandhi of India and King Father Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, received the 2008 Soekarno Prize on Monday to honor their contributions to the ideologies of Indonesia’s first president.

The prizes, received by Gandhi’s great-grandson, Tushar Arun Gandhi, and Sihanouk’s daughter, Samdech Norodom Arunrasmy, were awarded in conjunction with the inauguration of the Soekarno Center at the Blanco Renaissance Museum in Ubud, Gianyar.

The Soekarno Center is an institution which examines the ideologies of Soekarno, known affectionately as Bung Karno, Indonesia’s first president and one of its most controversial figures.

Sukmawati Soekarnoputri, Soekarno’s daughter and head of the Soekarno Center’s Guiding Council, said the awards were given to honor Gandhi’s and Sihanouk’s dedication towards building Asia.

Soekarno’s leadership, Sukmawati said, was heavily inspired by both figures who struggled together with Soekarno in achieving a stronger Asia.

“(Soekarno’s) words showed the spirit of the great soul Mahatma Gandhi. His words showed the great vision of King Father Norodom Sihanouk,” she said during the award ceremony.

The ceremony, she added, would become an annual event to celebrate the figures whose struggle reflected Soekarno’s leadership qualities and teachings.

“I hope the Soekarno awards can further spread Bung Karno’s great work as a figure who remained true in igniting the spirit of Asians in international politics,” she said.

Tushar Arun Gandhi said he was honored to be able to represent his great-grandfather in receiving the award, saying the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and Soekarno must be passed on to Asia’s younger generations.

“My great grandfather Mahatma Gandhi said Asia had a responsibility to provide leadership to the world,” he said.

“President Soekarno was one such leader who had the vision and the abilities to provide a dynamic and profitable leadership, not only as the president of Indonesia, but through his titanic statesmanship.

“He became one of the larger than life leaders of Asia,” said Tushar, who founded the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation in honor of his great-grandfather.

Samdech Norodom Arunrasmy said the award was an extraordinary recognition of her father.

“My country, Cambodia, had a special place in Soekarno’s affections,” she said.

“And I remember that (Soekarno) visited us in Cambodia several times where he enjoyed our traditional dishes and the hospitality of our people.”

Bali’s artisans to keep working despite the passage of porn bill

Made Darma Kandi was giving the finishing touches to his sculpture one Thursday afternoon. It was a sculpture of a bare-breasted woman with a beautiful torso and an angelic expression.

“I have sculpted it over three days,” Kandi said.

Kandi is a 35-year-old sculptor who owns and operates a small art shop in Batuan village, Gianyar.

The village has been known as one of the island’s major producers of handicrafts. The village’s main street is lined with art shops selling various handicrafts, from engraved eggs to paintings and sculptures.

Kandi’s 21-square-meter art shop was filled with hundreds of small and medium-sized statues. Some were animal statues, from turtles to the mythical eagle of Garuda. He sells them for Rp 20,000 to Rp 500,000. The buyers are mostly domestic tourists from Jakarta and Surabaya.

The art shop also displayed statues of human beings, mostly of beautiful women, with a large number of them with their breasts exposed.

The passage of the controversial anti-pornography bill on Oct. 30 has not deterred Kandi from sculpting and selling the sensual statues. Kandi said he would continue producing such statues despite the legal threat posed by the bill.

The bill threatens those who produce or distribute any materials that could arouse sexual desire with considerable prison terms and hefty fines.

Kandi questioned the logic behind the bill, claiming that pornography had little to do with objects that existed outside a human body and had a lot to do with the mind that existed inside a human head.

“When your mind is dirty, you will see any object as a pornographic or as something that arouses your lust,” he said.

Moreover, Kandi insisted that his works were essentially artworks. Artworks evoke the sense of awe and admiration, not carnal desire, he added.

Kandi believed Bali should be exempt from the bill because the bill would suppress freedom of expression and artistic creativity.

“If the bill is implemented in Bali then all the artists and artisans on the island will meet their untimely deaths,” Kandi said.

Gianyar regent Cok Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati said his administration would protect local artists’ and artisans’ freedom of expression, adding that the passage of the anti-pornography bill would not influence that freedom.

“For us this is art. Non-Balinese outsiders might see it as pornographic, but for us these works are simply art forms, which do not stimulate any sexual desire,” he said.

“You can see for yourself, there are a large number of nude statues on the island, but they have never stimulated anybody to commit rape.”

The regent stated his administration would support the Balinese’s effort to contest the bill at the country’s Constitutional Court.