Theme park proposal sinks to the bottom of the bay
Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika has caved in to public opposition to the planned massive reclamation of more than 800 hectares of land at Benoa Bay for a Disney-style resort.
Pastika, quoted by the Jakarta Post, said the chief factor in his decision was growing opposition from the island’s scholars, environmental organisations and the tourism industry.
Previously, the governor had granted private investor PT Tirta Wahana Bali International (TWBI) permission to develop and reclaim Benoa Bay for an integrated tourist development.
The company’s intention was to build luxury tourist facilities, including a theme park, apartments, hotels, villas, entertainment centres, a hospital and a university campus.
TWBI argued that the reclamation would save the island’s rice fields from being exploited and transformed into tourism facilities.
The environmentalists feared that the planned reclamation would trigger a massive ecological disaster, while the tourist industry worried that the planned development would drive local hotels into bankruptcy.
Ian Jarrett
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