The Bali provincial administration plans to install 1,000 CCTVs over the next five years to increase security on the island.

Head of the Bali Nationhood, Political and Community Protection Office, Made Denayasa, said Thursday his office would begin installing the CCTVs in the island’s main gateways such as the Gilimanuk ferry crossing and Benoa Port.

Gilimanuk ferry crossing, at the western tip of the island, is the main entry point for migrant workers from Java. Benoa Port, which is used for fishing and trade, lies in southern Denpasar.

He said the CCTVs would also be installed in the island’s traditional fishing ports such as Pengambengan in Jembrana and Kedonganan in Badung. “In Bali there are many traditional ports that do not yet have proper security supervision and are prone to infiltration,” Denayasa said.

He said more CCTVs would be installed in strategic areas that are popular with tourists, such as Kuta and Seminyak, to prevent any security problems including the smuggling of bomb-making materials.

The island’s coastal areas, which host a large number of traditional ports, have been identified by the intelligence authorities as Bali’s main weakness in preventing terrorism.

He said the installment of CCTVs was part of the Bali administration’s efforts to create a security system that adheres to international standards.

This security system, which is scheduled to launch in August, will cost Rp 16 billion (US$1.45 million).

he Bali Police have installed 28 CCTVs throughout Bali, including Sanur, Ngurah Rai International Airport and the Gilimanuk ferry crossing.

“The CCTVs that have been installed are limited in number and are low-tech compared to international standards, therefore the present security system has not reached its potential yet,” Denayasa said.

Bali Police Operation Division chief Sr. Comr. Satriya Hari said the police had requested an additional 72 CCTVs from the Bali administration.

“It is extremely important to have more CCTVs to monitor floods and traffic,” he said Thursday.

“On last Saturday’s flood, all we could monitor was Jl. Legian.”

Flash floods inundated roads and homes on Jl. Legian in Seminyak and Kuta, while several houses in Denpasar had to be evacuated after floodwater, of up to a meter in height, entered homes in Sidakarya.

The number of HIV-related deaths in Kerobokan State Penitentiary in Denpasar went up again last year.

As many as six inmates died of AIDS last year, up from five deaths in 2007 and three in 2006, a report from the prison HIV/AIDS task force revealed Thursday.

Agung Gde Hartawan, head of the task force said that most of the deaths occurred because the inmates were already sick when they went into prison. “We usually give them some level of health treatment inside the prison, but it’s more often that they came in with extremely deteriorated health conditions,” he said.

He added that the high mobility rate of inmates in Kerobokan impeded his task force’s ability to care for HIV-positive inmates.

“People go in and out of prison so fast, it’s really hard for us to decide on a good treatment,” he said.

The HIV/AIDS task force, which was established in 2002 as part of the Kerobokan prison’s effort to minimize the spread of HIV in the facility, is tasked with supplying prisoners with Antiretro Viral (ARV) drugs, providing HIV tests and educating prisoners on how to prevent HIV infections.

Despite the number of deaths, Agung said the efforts of the task force have shown good results in terms of preventing further infections

“This is as good as it gets. The prisoners are becoming more open to us and an increasing number of them are more willing to undergo test for HIV because there’s less stigma about the disease now,” he said.

*Novian, 42, A HIV-positive inmate who was sentenced for a drug related crime, agreed with Agung, saying that the task force had helped prevent further HIV infections in the prison. are still others who are afraid of me when they learn that I am HIV-positive, but after a while they understand that the disease doesn’t infect others that easily,” he said.

Novian, who is originally from Bandung, West Java, said that the access to health care he received from the task force has been very helpful, especially after he began receiving ARV drugs.

“I am so thankful that they have ARV drugs here now,” he said.

Kerobokan had 38 HIV-positive inmates in 2008, 14 of whom were released. In 2007, there were 39 inmates, while in 2006 there were 30 inmates.

The number of foreign visitors to Bali is estimated to increase to 6,000 per day by the end of January as more foreign tourists of Chinese origin travel to the island to celebrate their traditional New Year of Imlek.

On normal days Bali receives 5,000 foreign tourists per day.

“A large number of the visitors arriving at the end of January will come from China and Hong Kong,” head of the Bali chapter of the Indonesia Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Aloysius Purwa said Wednesday.

The surge of foreign tourists, Purwa said, would boost the occupancy rate of the island’s hotels to 80 percent. “The average length of stay of Chinese and Hong Kong tourists during Imlek holiday is two or three days,” he said.

So far, the flights from those regions to Bali have been fully booked.

“Some tourists from China have chartered private flights to come to Bali,” he said.

Villa Mahapala’s general manager, Jeffrey Wibisono shared Purwa’s optimism although at a more moderate level.

“We estimate the occupancy rate during Imlek will reach 50 percent; hopefully the number will keep increasing in the coming weeks,” he said.

The company operates 20 units of luxurious villas in Sanur and caters to mostly Korean and Chinese tourists.

Head of Bali Tourism Board (BTB), IB Ngurah Wijaya said Bali was still one of the most favorite destinations for Chinese visitors wanting to celebrate Imlek away from home.

Separately, head of Bali Tourism Agency, I Gede Nurjaya urged the local administration to welcome the surge of Chinese visitors by improving their infrastructures, particularly since the island has entered the rainy season and has just experienced massive flooding in some of its prominent tourist spots.

“Heavy rain and strong winds usually take place during Imlek holidays and the administrations should anticipate the possibility of natural disasters. If flooding takes place during the time of a surge in visitors, then Bali will receive negative appraisals,” he said.

The Bali General Elections Commission (KPUD) announced Friday it will increase the number of polling stations on the island to 8,401 from 7,090 for the April legislative elections to ease the burden on its officials and ensure the results deadline is met.

Bali KPUD chairman I Ketut Lanang Perbawa Sukawati said the commission aimed to reduce the possibility of late results due to a forecast high voter turnout and the large number of political parties involved.

“This is to anticipate delays in vote-counting, because this time the process will be more complicated because of the number of parties and legislative candidates,” he said at the Bali KPUD office in Denpasar.

There are 2.5 million eligible voters in Bali, comprising 1.34 million women and 1.32 million men. The majority of voters live in Denpasar, Tabanan, Gianyar, Karangasem and Badung.

As many as 4,924 candidates will compete for seats at the legislative councils (DPRD) on provincial, municipal and regency levels.

Thirty candidates will compete for seats at the Regional Representatives Council (DPD). Each province is allocated four seats at the DPD.

Lanang said the Bali KPUD had decided its previous stance of having one polling station for every 400 to 500 voters would put too much pressure on its officials to meet the results deadline.

“Based on our simulations, it will take us two days to count the votes; so we’re adding polling stations to reduce the number of ballots that will need to be counted at each station down to between 300 and 350,” he said.

The head of the Bali KPUD’s Denpasar branch, I Made Gede Ray Misno, said the extra polling stations would reduce the chance of miscounts.

“We don’t want to work our staff any later than midnight, they need to concentrate,” he said.

The regencies of Buleleng, Bangli and Gianyar, and the Denpasar municipality, are to receive the additional polling stations.

Denpasar will receive 362 extra polling stations, bringing the total there to 1,322 stations, a move that Misno said would inevitably cost more money.

Each polling station costs about Rp 20 million (US$1,820).

“So we expect to pay more money for this decision,” he said.

The final number of polling stations in the other regencies will be 1,489 in Buleleng, 1,069 in Tabanan, 926 in Gianyar, 1,150 in Karangasem, 927 in Badung, 566 in Jembrana, 591 in Bangli and 361 in Klungkung.

The official campaigning period begins March 16 and ends April 5, four days before voting day on April 9.

Karangasem Regent I Wayan Geredeg has allocated Rp 35 billion (US$3.2 million) to install water pipes, build reservoirs and improve the overall infrastructure of water delivery in the regency to solve its shortage problems.

Geredeg told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the plan would help the regency solve the problems by 2010.

He did not elaborate further on his plans, except for the cost and the deadline in which all the infrastructure projects would be finished.

Yet, he was optimistic about the plan because the administration’s official had found a water source in Ban village, Kubu district, with an outflow rate of six liters per second.

“I hope all Karangasem residents will have easier access to clean water by 2010,” he said.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika also pledged to connect 10,000 families in the Karangasem districts of Abang and Kubu — the two worst drought-affected areas in the regency — to piping systems with access to clean water this year.

“This shortage problem is the key to solving the poverty issue in Karangasem, because the poverty there is the legacy of years of water shortage problems,” he said.

According to data from the Bali Public Works Agency, about 30 percent of the 384,208 residents of Karangasem have trouble getting clean water, especially in Kubu and Abang districts, which are populated by 32,222 families.

According to the same data, each family must spend Rp 375,000 for ten cubic meters of water per month, which translates to a total spending of about Rp 8.1 billion for the two water stringent districts per year.

In comparison, Bali’s hotels spend less money for ground water. In 2007, hotels spend Rp 10 billion for 20 million cubic meter, or Rp 500 per cubic meter of water.

Karangasem Regent I Wayan Geredeg said the water shortage was the main cause of poverty in his regency, which in 2007 reached 41,866 families or 46 percent of the 91,000 families in Karangasem.

“The poor people are getting even poorer because they have to spend more for water,” he said.

Meanwhile, from The Post’s observations, the advent of the rainy season is a blessing for many of Karangasem residents, who can spend up to Rp 400,000 (US$36) for a tank of clean water during the dry season from May to October.

“A tank would last us about a month, though if we really conserve it could last for two months,” said Komang Terima, 46, a villager in Dusun Tinjalas in East Seraya.

He said he would spend Rp 2,000 for a jerrican of clean water if he did not have enough money for a tank.

During this rainy season, he has been collecting all the water he can from the small reservoir he built to capture the rain water.

“We still have to conserve though. It’s enough for us to take a bath once every three days, sharing one bucket for the four of us each time,” he said.

Indeed, despite the increasing rains, water remains a scarce commodity for Karangasem residents.

I Luh Nustri, 25, another villager, said she could only use one bucket of water for all of her kitchen chores.

“We would not have enough water if I use more for kitchen chores because we can’t afford to buy more,” she said.

One thousand new teachers are needed to accommodate the growing number of students in Karangasem regency and to replace the teachers who will soon retire, the regent has warned.

Karangasem Regent I Wayan Geredeg said the central government’s decision to assign 633 new teachers to the regency this year constituted an insufficient effort, as the need was for 1,700 teachers.

“I need about a thousand more,” he said.

Karangasem has been suffering a teacher shortage for the past decade, he said, adding that what had once been an inconvenience now was crisis given the growing number of students.

“There is actually one elementary school where 400 students are taught by three teachers. That’s just illogical,” Geredeg said Thursday.

In Indonesia, a regent must appeal to the central government to be assigned more public school teachers.

Karangasem, a poor regency which is famous for suffering severe droughts and is rarely frequented by tourists, is an unpopular destination among teachers.

“On average, public school teachers serve for between two and three years, and then they request to be moved. The problem is that the central government keeps granting their wishes,” he said.

He said the dearth was isolated to 45 elementary schools in the districts of Kubu, Abang and the Seraya village. There are eight districts in Karangasem, all short of teachers, he said.

He said the regency would need another 200 teachers by 2010 just to maintain present numbers, citing the number of teachers who planned to retire by then.

There are 5,000 teachers working at 360 elementary schools in Karangasem.

Geredeg said he hoped the central government would send at least half of the number of teachers requested.

He said he planned to establish a contractual program with stationed teachers that would require them to stay for 22 years.

The plan received the support of the head of the Bali Education Agency, Tjok Istri Agung Kusumawardhani.

She said the lack of teachers was not a problem specific to Karangasem, adding that while she had no data at hand to back up her argument, it was the central government that was to blame for the shortage of teachers in many rural areas.

“It’s because teachers are stationed directly by the central government,” he said.

“And the teachers only stay for two or three years, and then move on again.”

Bali It was the happy ending that the poor couple, Yetriyana Lopes, 28, and Mulyono, 29, had hoped for. Their four-month-old baby, Raditya Mulyana, has finally been returned to their arms after being “confiscated” by their midwife, Kurnianingsih, who kept the baby in her clinic when Mulyono could not afford the cost of delivery. “I’m just so happy to see my Raditya again. I was worried he was gone forever, but now he’s back with us and his twin brother,” Yetriyana said, smiling as she breastfeed him while her husband carried Aditya, the twin brother, in his arms. In the final chapter of the saga, Kurnianingsih returned the baby to their parents after the couple reported her to the police, accusing her of child trafficking. This resolution was facilitated by the Bali Legal Aid and Human Rights Foundation (PBHI), who represented Mulyono and Yetriyana, and Kurnianingsih’s lawyer, Made Suardana. Kurnianingsih handed the baby to the couple herself at the PBHI office in Renon, Denpasar on Tuesday as both parties agreed not to pursue legal action any further. “I’m happy as long as I have my son back,” Mulyono said. It was only a few days ago that Mulyono decided to report Kurnianingsih to the police for child trafficking, an offense which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and Rp 60 million ($US5600) in fines. Mulyono alleged that Kurnianingsih “confiscated” one of his newborn twins by forcing him to sign an agreement to hand his baby over to Kurnianingsih in order to erase the Rp 6 million delivery bill debt. Kurnianingsih vehemently denied Mulyono’s accusations, saying she charged him only Rp 2.5 million, which he failed to pay, and that Mulyono himself offered the baby in exchange for the erasure of the debt. On Tuesday, the midwife declined to give a statement, directing reporters to her lawyer, who said that Kurnianingsih harbored no ill will towards her patient and that the agreement was made to resolve the monetary situation. “This is all basically a misunderstanding. My client had no intention of stealing the boy. In fact she has the best of intentions and planned to take good care of him because his parents had said they could not afford to take care of the baby themselves,” he said. The misunderstanding, Suardana said escalated when an employee of Kurnianingsih’s clinic made the false allegation that Raditya had been given to a family in Yogyakarta, Java. “In fact he was being taken care of by our client. The employee said he was taken to Yogya because that person did not want the parents to go looking for him,” he said. Suardana said Kurnianingsih had planned to legally adopt Raditya at the Denpasar District Court, but canceled her plan when Mulyono complained to the police and the PBHI. Ni Nyoman Sri Widhiyanti, head of PBHI and Mulyono’s legal representative, said the deal was the best result possible. “We have looked at this case from a humanitarian angle since the beginning. It’s all about what’s best for the boy and that is to return him to his parents,” she said. Widhiyanti further blamed the case on the poor understanding of child protection laws, which cover adoption. “Many people in society remain oblivious to proper child adoption procedures and end up getting tangled in a legal mess,” she said. In a separate interview, deputy chief of the Bali Child Protection Commission, Luh Anggraeni, agreed to the need for more education on child protection laws, admitting that Kurnianingsih’s methods may be commonly used by child traffickers. “So far there has been a lot of education done on child trafficking, but people’s awareness remains low. Balinese people are still oblivious to cases such as (Raditya’s),” she said. “Midwifes must also be educated more intensively. There could be more of these informal adoptions going on without people knowing that it’s illegal.”

The Bali administration launched Tuesday a free health service campaign targeting villages in seven of the province’s eight regencies and the municipality of Denpasar.

The island’s westernmost regency, Jembrana, declined to participate in the campaign, claiming it has carried out a similar program for years.

On the first day of the campaign, physicians, dentists, internists and health workers conducted free medical examinations and dispensed medication in Pegayaman village (Buleleng), Pemecutan (Denpasar), Bona (Gianyar), Pecatu( Badung), Nongan (Karangasem), Tamanbali (Bangli), Sudimara (Tabanan) and Gelgel (Klungkung).

“In 2009, the campaign will target a total of 500 villages and comprise of 6,000 free medical examinations and medication events,” Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said.

“We hope this campaign will improve the health status of village residents across the island,” he added.

The administration financed the campaign by allocating special funds from the province’s annual budget.

Jembrana regency has for several years offered free health care through the community health insurance program.

Mangku Pastika praised the regency’s initiative and urged others to follow suit and thus lighten the burden on the provincial administration’s public health sector.

“The campaign will target 36 villages in Jembrana. Yet, since the regency refused to participate, we will distribute these slots among the eight other regencies and Denpasar,” Pastika said.

Komorang Candra Dewi, a resident of Denpasar, welcomed the campaign, calling it a good initiative. However, he reminded the administration to ensure that health services provided during the campaign were of a high quality.

Pastika stressed that the campaign would be carried out on a regular basis since improving public health services was one of his main priorities.

A similar campaign will be carried out in 2009 with 4,000 events.