Monday, August 23, 2010

Latest Bali Updates














Read the full report at: http://www.balidiscovery.com/update/update728.asp
Om Swastiastu ...


Last week Indonesia celebrated the 65th Anniversary of its founding. On Bali, a group of handicapped divers marked the day by unfurling the red and white beneath the ocean's blue in a unique way to celerate nationhood and personal independence.

Numbered among leading news stories last week were the frantic attack by a mentally disturbed man with a knife on people walking down the streets of Kuta; a gift of 18,000 vials of anti-rabies serum from the United Nation's WHO to Bali; the sinking of a fast ferry from Bali to Gili Trawangan island that saw 34 tourists narrowly escape drowning; and an increase in the security alert level for the Port of Gilimanuk following the arrest of a radical cleric in Java.

There's also coverage of the appointment of a new chief of police for the province of Bali; a startling report from the bureau of statistics that Bali's population has increased 20% in only a decade to 3.89 million; and the good news that handicraft exports to Europe are on the increase.

Also, last week, a group of spokespersons from Bali travel industry met with the island's House of Representatives to warn of 7 threats to the island's tourism industry.

Governor Pastika is scolding the regents and mayors across Bali for failing to keep their pledge to make payment of the Hotel & Restaurant tax on line. There's coverage of the governor's threat to take matters in his own hands and our editorial in support of his hard line initiatives.

Jakarta has suddenly promised to help finance both underpasses and overpasses in order to alleviate traffic congestion in Bali. Police will soon have 1,000 sets of new eyes in the form of surveillance cameras operating across the island. And, the governor is sticking to his guns and insisting a 1,000 percent increase in the cost of well-water must go ahead as planned.

Hardly news or new, but complaints continue over poor service and immigration waiting lines at Bali's airport.

The U.S. and Indonesian governments have agreed to establish a national bio-diversity institute ay Bali's Udayana University.

And, in order to unfreeze a wide number of infrastructure projects, a draft law is in the works that will introduce the concept of eminent domain into Indonesian law.

Art is a walk in the park in Bali. Be sure to see the eccentric display of sculptures created by Adi Bachman in the gardens surrounding the ARMA Museum in Ubud running through December 31, 2010.



Om Çanti Çanti Çanti Om ...

J.M. Daniels - Bali Update
Bali Discovery Tours

No comments:

Post a Comment