Bali Latest Updates

Om Swastiastu ...

Full report at: http://www.balidiscovery.com/update/update735.asp
More than 20 articles in this week’s Bali Update to keep you informed on developments on the world’s favorite island.

The BALINALE International Film Festival opens this Tuesday, October 12 and runs until October 17. We’ll be looking for you on the red carpet.

Bali officials are getting caught up in the national drive against corruption. The former chief of tourism for Bali, Gede Nurjaya, has been arrested as a suspect in a scheme involving the misuse of tourism promotion funds. Meanwhile, the Regent of Jembrana, Gede Winasa, is being sought for questioning in connection with the misappropriation of State funds in a case that has already sent two men to jail.

On Bali’s security beat we’ve news of an improved system of immigration control at gateways across Indonesia; the deployment of 100 more tourism police and additional CCTV surveillance cameras at key island locations; Bali’s police chief orders his men to ‘shoot on site’ and, we guess also, 'on sight' anyone found trying to carry guns or explosives into Bali; the Chief of the Armed Forces assess threats to National security; and Bali announces it will be “rabies free” by October 28, 2012.

Dutch – Indonesian relations took a hit last week with the last-minute cancellation of a Presidential visit to Den Haag. Details in this week’s Bali Update.

Bean counters unite! We’ve got the latest installment of “Bali by the Numbers” suggesting Bali will near 2.5 million foreign visitors in 2010 and confidence from Jakarta that national arrivals will easily exceed 7 million.

Power and the environment are back in the news. Legislators want a thorough feasibility study done on the applications for wind and solar energy for Bali. Separately, much-respected elder statesman Professor Emil Salim says geothermal energy does not match with Balinese culture and traditions and should therefore be scrapped.

Interesting reading this week includes: Comments from a Bali tourism leader calling for the abolition of the visa-on-arrival and a return to a visa-free policy; the recent visit to Bali of two of the world’s “most married” people; and a world record day of traditional cooking on October 10th at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Park.

There's more news. Two hotels in Bali are being reprimanded for failure to adopt a ‘Bali Style.” We also got news on the seemingly stalled plans for a North Bali airport. And we tell you why you might see traditional Papuan dancers on the streets of Kuta this week.

There’s also news of a marvelous new Balinese book by internationally acclaimed Bali-based photographer Rio Helmi – “Memories of the Sacred.”

Om Çanti Çanti Çanti Om ...
J.M. Daniels - Bali Update
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