BALI - Resignations at Bali Tourism Board

Balidiscovery.com (11/4/2006)

Five members of the supervisory body charged with monitoring the financial accountability of the Bali Tourism Board (BTB) resigned on Wednesday, November 1, 2006.

As reported onbalidiscovery.com [Bali Tourism Board Under Attack], the BTB has been criticized for a lack of communication and transparency with the stakeholder organizations that comprise the tourism promotion body.

According to a report published in the Indonesian language Bali Post, the five members who resigned en masse from BTB are: I Gusti Agung Prana, Hadi Taryoto. John Ketut Pantja, Cok Putra and I Gusti Bagus Yudhara. In resigning, the five stated they were no longer prepared to share responsibility for decision made by BTB.

The resignation was tendered at an internal meeting held in Denpasar last week at which the leadership of BTB was criticized by the five who resigned the organization. Also joining the chorus of criticism leveled at BTB's leadership were Yos WK Amerta, the Bali head of the Water Sports Association (Gahawisri) and Rudy Antara of Bali Village.

Quoted in the Bali Post, John Ketut Pantja complained: "I speak frankly. The Chairman of the BTB cannot operate independently. If everything's fine, then why are members of the Supervisory Body resigning? The Chairman must correct himself."

In a separate press conference, the Chairman of BTB Bagus Sudibya insisted that he had clarified all the various problems surrounding Bali's recovery funds. Moreover, he reminded everyone that the Secretary General of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Hengky Hermanto, had attended the just completed meeting with stakeholders in order to clearly explain the funding issues which are, in the end, controlled by the Central Government.

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