BALI - Urgent Steps Must Be Taken to Help Bali Reclaim its Beaches as its Own.

Balidiscovery.com (10/1/2006)

Last week, regional authorities in Gianyar shut down a luxury villa project under construction on Cucukan Beach, near Blahbatuh, when the project was found to have been partially built on 300 square meters of government land and to have violated mandatory "set back" limits forbidding construction too close to local shorelines. Developers of that project have been told to demolish those parts of the construction that do not meet local building requirements.

As part of a continuing crackdown on illegal building in Bali, Denpasar authorities similarly "froze" three villa and apartment projects in the Canggu area of North Kuta that reportedly did not possess the required building permits. Concurrently, authorities are taking action against a villa in Kuta that was built uder a permits for a private residence but is now being leased out as a commercial villa enterprise.

While it is encouraging to see local officials are finally taking some steps to slow the helter skelter free-for-all of villa construction that is fundamentally changing the character of the Island, there are indications that a more radical re-examination of building regulation on Bali's beaches may be long overdue.

With Bali repeatedly winning awards as one of the world's favorite holiday island destinations, a more thoughtful approach on how best to protect and preserve Bali's precious beach front and tidal mangroves are needed in order to maintain the island's reputation and make its tourism product sustainable for the long term.

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