Bali Legislator Says Island of the Gods Is Being Overrun by Property Sharks

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana& Antara, August 02, 2010

Denpasar. Bali’s booming property market is being overrun by rogue developers who are forging land titles in order to stake bogus claims to high-yield land investments, a prominent local legislator said on Monday.

“These people are cashing in on Bali being a famous island that holds strategic future value,” Made Arjaya said.

He said that of greater concern for Bali’s burgeoning property market was that those involved in illegal practices were being awarded land ownership through the courts, raising more questions about the country’s endemically corrupt and embattled judiciary.

Arjaya, a former official for provincially held assets and a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), called on the police to investigate the land disputes and shine a light on the organized groups that he said were behind the land grabs.

The legislator said he became aware of the frauds through lawyer HK Kosasih, who also represents Bali property developer Edy Sukaton Saputra.

In January 1996, Margasrikaton Dwi Pratama, a company that Edy served on as a director, won an auction for a parcel of state-owned land. The auction was organized and conducted by the National Land Agency (BPN).

Margasrikaton was awarded a contract and title deed to develop a 230,450-square-meter lot in Badung district’s Ungasan village. But that is where the good times ended for the company.

Shortly after being handed the title, another group, led by Bali native I Wayan Tama, claimed it was in possession of the authentic land titles, despite the BPN running an auction for land that was clearly state-owned.

The wrangling continued up until November 2005, when the Supreme Court in Jakarta ruled in favor of Tama and his associates.

“What makes absolutely no sense is why the Supreme Court approved their claim based on patently falsified documents,” Arjaya said.

He added that a criminal investigation of the case would undoubtedly lead to similar cases being uncovered both in Bali and elsewhere in the country.

The legislator said there were large plots of state land across Bali vulnerable to similar takeovers, including a combined 11 hectares in Pecatu village, Badung, which is the site of a planned tourist resort and is currently embroiled in a dispute between the provincial administration and a local developer.

The Garuda Wisnu Kencana park in South Kuta, the site of a planned commercial and tourist center, has been abandoned due to a similar dispute.

“We risk allowing those two strategic assets to be taken over by rogue investors,” Arjaya said.

Bali to turn garbage into fertilizer

Antara News, Saturday, April 24, 2010 15:41 WIB

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Bali provincial administration is exploring ways to turn garbage into non-organic fertilizer in a bid to promote environmental cleanliness on the island of paradise.

"In the 2010 amended regional budget (APBD) the local government will allocate funds to build three garbage management factories," Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said at a meeting with various public elements here on Saturday.

The governor said the first phase of small scale garbage management factories would be built around the area of Besakih temple in Karangasem, Goa Lawah in Klungkung, and Kintamani Batur temple in Bangli.

The environmentally-friendly factories at the three locations are expected to manage and turn the garbage in those areas into non-organic fertilizer.

"We want to turn the garbage there to have economic value for the local people," the governor said in the company of his deputy Aan Puspayoga.

On the occasion, Governor Made Mangku Pastika said the garbage management into non-organic fertilizer was in line with the local government target to make Bali a green province.

"If such a pioneer project yields a good result, the number of small scale garbage management factory will be increased," the governor said.

Resort project not affected by turmoil

Claudia Sardi, The Jakarta Post, Pecatu | Thu, 02/12/2009 2:33 PM  |  Bali 

A Rp 3 trillion development on Pecatu Hill in Jimbaran in southern Bali is showing no signs yet of being affected by the global financial crisis, with developer PT Bali Pecatu Graha (BPG) selling 124.5 hectares of land to investors for an ambitious new property project. 

The Pecatu Indah Resort project will eventually comprise exclusive residences, international-standard hospitals and schools, shopping malls, a 15,000-person capacity convention center, and recreation places, including theme and water parks. 

"None of the investors has pulled out of the contract so far, and we just signed a new contract with Condotel last October," said Arturo Seril, BPG project manager. 

"The project is scheduled for completion in 2020. I'm still very optimistic that we can finish it without more major incidents." 

BPG had prepared the master plan for the project in 1998, but due to the Indonesian economic crisis and the two terrorist bombings on the island, the company only began rolling out the project in early 2006. 

The New Kuta Golf Course, which opened its doors in 2007, is the first completed project on the site. 

It will play host to the Indonesia Open tournament this February, and plans to house its guests at the partially finished New Kuta Condotel, operated by Best Western. Once complete, the resort will include at least five luxury hotels. 

Both the Westin and Raffles hotels have bought land here and will begin construction soon; tea giant PT Sosro has also invested and plans to branch out into the hotel sector with its first property in Pecatu. 

Another developer, PT Panorama Development Utama (PMA), has almost finished work on a 21-villa complex called Hole 17, set in the middle of the golf course. 

"Pecatu Indah Resort will be something unique on the island, nothing like Nusa Dua, which only has standalone hotels. We are going to provide a huge range of facilities in one single area, which makes it very attractive", Seril said. 

BPG, owned by Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, retains control of all 400 hectares of the land for the Pecatu Indah Resort. The firm is planning its own projects in the area including the Klapa, a four-story complex consisting of a restaurant, spa, beachfront disco and bars, currently under construction on a cliff overlooking the beach.

Related Article:

Budget hotels may buck property trend

Development at Lake Buyan goes on without permits

Claudia Sardi, The Jakarta Post, Buleleng | Sat, 02/07/2009 1:11 PM | Bali

The development thriller of Lake Buyan, one of the few water catchment areas in Bali, is not yet finished as PT Nusa Bali Abadi, an Indonesian developer, has started to build around the sacred lake.

Without having the essential recommendation from Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, the development steps into another chapter. The news about Pastika's rejection of PT Anantara's proposal to develop Lake Buyan should have triggered sighs of relief. After waves of protests and letters of complaint, he announced last week that he had turned down the offer from PT Anantara to develop Lake Buyan into an ecotourism resort.

But Ninik Hanoppo, PT Nusa Bali Abadi's director, insisted the company had gone through all the necessary legal procedures. She explained the company had got approval from the village chiefs and the Forestry Ministry in Jakarta to build 25 villas on the 20-hectare plot of land in the Sukasada district near Lake Buyan.

It was reported that the developer obtained the concession from the Buleleng regent and the Forestry Ministry in 2007. However, former Bali governor Dewa Made Baratha had failed to issue the permit as the area was state-protected and a forest conservation area.

On the permit, it was noted the company planned to build 25 villas on the 20 hectares of land. Later, it was reported that instead of building 25 villas, the company would expand the project to build 400 villas with the theme of "The Lakes - floating between two worlds."

When finished, the development would offer tourists a real forest experience.

"My company will not build 400 villas. We only plan to construct 25 villas," Hanoppo confirmed to The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Nyoman Silanawa, head of the Bali Forest Conservation Office said, "The permit to build a resort on that site was not valid as former governor Beratha did not issue it." The former governor had ordered his office to stop any development projects in the conservation area.

"The planned development project would certainly destroy the environment and the ecosystem of the forest," Silanawa added.

Dharma Putra, the company's former environment consultant, asserted that he had done an environmental assessment for the project.

"In 2005, I did an environment impact assessment for the construction of the 25 villas and concluded it was environmentally friendly, as no trees would be cut down and the villas would not be built on concrete flooring," Putra explained.

He said the resort had developed a strategy to conserve water and that the decreasing water level was due to the increasing usage from farmers in the area. "The assessment would no longer be valid if more villas were built in the forest, as the impact on the environment would be much bigger," Putra said. "This is just a big joke. The government wants to stop the lakes from drying out, and now these huge resorts, which consume millions of liters of water a day themselves, should really aggravate the situation," Agung Wardana, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi), said.

Due to sedimentation, Lake Buyan, which was originally 500 hectares, has lost 60 hectares in the last few years.

Governor Pastika said earlier this year that he planned to find the best way to restore the lake as it had reached a critical point.

"The rejection by the governor is a good sign from the authorities, but what we need is a long-term moratorium to stop any development on the lake," Wardana said

Balinese houses popular abroad

DENPASAR (Jakarta Post) : The export of Balinese-style quake-resistance homes recorded US$5.8 million in sales between January and October this year, a sharp 446 percent increase from $1 million over the same period last year.

Bali's Trade and Industry Office said the exports also recorded a sharp increase in volume, from 356 units to 30,667.

"Who would have expected knock-down houses to become a such a hot item for export to European countries, the U.S. and Australia?" said Made Suma, a marketer of Balinese-style homes in Denpasar.

He attributed the high sales to the wooden house's unique character and easy set-up, as well as by the word-of-mouth promotion from tourists and various exhibitions.

The house is among the exhibits on display at the one-month-long Bali Art Festival in Denpasar Cultural Park, in the heart of Bali's capital city.

Tenganan residents use micro-hydro power plant

Wasti Atmodjo, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

The Tenganan, one of the oldest Balinese indigenous groups, have long been renowned as the guardians of the island's environment by consistently applying their traditional wisdom.

Living in Tenganan village, which is situated on the rich and fertile lands of Karangasem regency, some 100 kilometers east of Denpasar, the Tenganan have successfully retained their traditional way of life.

Made Suarnatha, director of the Wisnu Foundation, said the foundation had helped the people of Tenganan develop their own hydro-electric power plant by utilizing the water-rich Buhu River.

Supported by the Global Environmental Facilities (GEF), Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and the state-owned electricity company PT PLN, the village now has a micro-hydro power plant capable of producing around 12,000 watts (12 KW) during the dry season and 22,000 during rainy season.

"This is a type of community-based electricity power plant that could be applied in other remote villages on the island," said Wayan Redika, spokesperson of PT PLN's Bali office.

The company, he said, was not able to provide electricity for all, therefore empowering villages was the key to ensuring people could rely on a self-generated electricity supply.

Since Tenganan people do not need as much electricity as their counterparts in urban areas, the provision of between 12 kilowatts to 22 kilowatts of electricity is more than enough for these modest people.

"We use the electricity to operate our rice mill, which used to be powered by diesel fuel," said Tenganan's village chief.

The diesel-powered mill, he said, required 20 liters of fuel per hour to process rice husks.

By using the electricity, the people of Tenganan can save hundreds of thousands of rupiah a day. More importantly, the new technology is more environmentally friendly.

"The local people can also sell electricity to PT PLN at Rp 420 per kwh. This means they can generate money from the micro-hydro power plant," Suarnatha said, adding investment for the plant amounted to around Rp 600 million.

The Wisnu Foundation has been involved in various community-based activities that empower villagers to be economically independent. The foundation has become a development partner for four villages: Tenganan and Sibetan in Karangasem regency, Plaga in Badung regency and Nusa Penida in Klungkung.

"The difference is the involvement of the community in managing this power plant, which will become their economic wheel," Suarnatha said.

Review of building restrictions praised

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

A city planning expert from Udayana University, Putu Rumawan Salain, said Tuesday the Bali provincial administration's plan to re-evaluate restrictions on high-rise developments would protect the environment provided the restrictions were based on a thorough study.

"It is wise to protect the environment, but there are things which must be noted. There must be a comprehensive research into which areas can have high-rises," he said.

The administration said last week it would re-evaluate high-rise development restrictions, particularly the building height limit that uses coconut palms as a yardstick, to prevent the island's "green areas" from disappearing.

A special team has been assigned to study possible changes in zoning regulations and are looking for ways to accommodate local objections to taller buildings with the growing need for land in Bali.

Chairman of Indonesia's Hindu Council I Gusti Ngurah Sudiana objected to the changes, saying that Hindu Balinese do not need high-rise buildings. Balinese Hindu regards high places as sacred.

Rumawan said Bali must find ways to support its growing population. "We need high-rise buildings for hotels, housing, offices, schools and hospitals."

Each big city in Bali has an average population density of 600 persons per square km, higher than the ideal population density of 400 persons per square km. Bali only covers some 563,286 hectares.

The number of paddy fields is "shrinking fast" at a rate of approximately 107 hectares (ha) a year, Tabanan Regent N. Adi Wiryatama said.

The regent said in 2002, there were around 22,842 ha offields in Tabanan, but the area had shrunk to 22,413 hectares in 2006.

Renowned Balinese architect Popo Danes acknowledged the need for constructing buildings vertically to save land, but was concerned at the lack of law enforcement for the regulations.

"There are violations in building permits under the existing regulation, let alone for regulations on more complex buildings," Popo said.

"Before we make a step forward, we should fix the regulation system."

The regulation, enacted more than 20 years ago, prevents the construction of buildings more over 15 meters in height, or above the tops of local coconut trees.

The island only has one high-rise building, Inna Grand Bali Beach hotel, which was constructed in the 1960s before the introduction of the restriction.