Environmental activists and indigenous people have managed to stop the reclamation of the sacred area of Benoa Bay in Bali. This is a story of resistance against large capital expansion and what the fate of the bay is today. The Bali Mandara Toll Road that divides Benoa Bay in Bali. (Photo: BUMN)
by IGG Maha Adi
The relaxed atmosphere of the meeting suddenly turned into a gloomy and sad one. Some participants in the meeting received very worrying news. It said that a big investor from Jakarta had officially obtained a permit for the reclamation of Benoa Bay. On that day in the middle of 2021, the Conservation International Indonesia office in Renon, Bali, was busy discussing preparations for the development of the Badung Regency Marine Protected Area (MPA) with the Bali MPA Working Group.
“We all received confirmation that Benoa Bay was declared no longer suitable to be included as a conservation area because there have been many changes including the Bali Mandara toll road that passes through it,” said I Made Iwan Dewantama who at that time served as the Bali MPA Network Manager of CI Indonesia and he continued, “That is the reason the central government allowed the reclamation.”
Even more surprisingly, the news contradicted Presidential Regulation No. 45 of 2011 concerning Spatial Planning of the Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan Urban Areas or Sarbagita, which stipulated that the Benoa Bay area is a conservation area. The following year, the regulation was further reinforced with Presidential Regulation No. 122 of 2012 concerning Reclamation in Coastal Areas and Small Islands which prohibits reclaiming conservation areas. This means that Benoa Bay is safe. Or so they thought.
These two presidential regulations are what motivated environmental groups to collaborate in the Badung Regency MPA Working Group, plus a request from the Badung Marine and Fisheries Office for environmental organizations to propose a design for a marine conservation area that would become part of the Bali MPA network. Vision of CI Indonesia is Bali Island will be encircled with MPAs managed by each district for sustainable management of coastal and marine resources to improve the welfare of indigenous local communities. At the center of this network of MPAs is Benoa Bay with a total area of 1,243.41 ha.
Cosmology
The Balinese recognize Benoa Bay as a campuhan or confluence of two rivers which are considered a sacred point, since it’s a meeting place of two landscapes: the volcanic land of Bali with the atoll coral coming from the Indian Ocean. The cosmology of the ancestors of the Balinese named Benoa Bay as suwung or empty; it may be interpreted as an area that should be left as a natural area “without development.”
In integrated coastal management, the zone is marked as a natural barrier to the island of Bali from the waves of the south coast. In the Bali MPA network, Benoa Bay acts as a buffer zone for the Ngurah Rai Grand Forest Park as the green belt of Bali Island and strengthens MPA connectivity in maintaining the sustainability of coastal resources to increase sustainable use.
Benoa Bay is also the estuary of six rivers that flow from upstream and through Denpasar City, the capital of Bali Province. The estuary of a river and a mountain in Balinese cosmology is the ultimate place to complete the cycle of life and death. Long before, the indigenous people of Bali agreed to letting the infrastructure construction be done in the bay in the form of a toll road above the sea. The reason was to ease the worsening traffic congestion in Denpasar City. Finally, in September 2013, the Bali Mandara Toll Road was operated as the first toll road in Indonesia above the sea and still functions well today.
Then came the plan from PT Tirta Wahana Bali Internasional (TWBI) owned by conglomerate Tommy Winata who wanted to reclaim the bay. In fact, the Bali Mandara Toll Road has made the position of Benoa Bay even more strategic, as it can now be reached within 15 minutes from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, and 30 minutes to international tourist destinations in Nusa Dua, Bali. From the bay, tourists can sail to Lombok Island or go to diving spots around Bali by speedboat or yacht.
The development plan for the Benoa Bay tourism area according to developer PT Tirta Wahana Bali International (Graphic: PT TWBI)
Tommy is reportedly a close friend of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The closeness of the two is widely known to the public, they even planted mangroves together on the east side of Benoa Bay with Portuguese world football star Christiano Ronaldo in June 2013. Through TWBI, Tommy wants to build a one-stop service tourism ala Disneyland which will fill most of the Bay’s waters with soil and transform it into a hotel, casino, restaurant, cafe, and performance hall. Ironically, the plan will also cut down the mangroves that he had just planted with the President and Ronaldo.
It turns out that Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika has approved TWBI’s plan and issued a Bali gubernatorial decree No.2138/02-C/HK/2012 concerning the Plan for Utilization and Development of the Benoa Bay Waters Area covering 838 ha or almost 70% of the Bay area.
Then, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) ratified Ministerial Regulation 17/Permen-KP/2013 allowing reclamation in non-core conservation zones on July 3, 2013. For environmental activists, these two decisions were a green light for investors to reclaim Benoa Bay.
In May 2014, months before his term of office ended, President Susilo issued Presidential Regulation No.51 of 2014 which allowed reclamation in marine conservation areas. As planned, in August the developer also received a reclamation location permit number 445/MEN-KP/VIII/2014 from the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in the waters of Benoa Bay covering Badung Regency and Denpasar City, Bali Province, with an area of 700 hectares.
Tommy Winata (far left), Cristiano Ronaldo (blue t-shirt) and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (next to Ronaldo, wearing glasses) planting mangroves in Benoa Bay, June 2013. (Photo: Presidential Secretariat)
The Bali Provincial Government, according to Wayan “Gendo” Suardhana from ForBali who opposed the plan, tried to cool down public opposition by hosting a public consultation on the plan to change the status of the Benoa Bay conservation area into a public use area in April 2014. “But they did not invite the parties that rejected the reclamation, so this consultation event became one-sided,” he said.
The developer also held a public consultation before compiling the Environmental Impact Analysis document which is compulsory for each of the above activities on land larger than 25 ha. “We will certainly comply with all provisions of the law by conducting an environmental impact study before the reclamation of Benoa Bay,” TWBI Commissioner Jasin Yanto told reporters. Jasin said it was not true that the developer kept the Benoa Bay reclamation plan a secret since the whole process was transparent.
Rejection
The decision made by the government and the developer did not go down well with the Balinese people, who began gathering momentum to oppose the reclamation led by environmental activists that were part of ForBali. Saying so to The Nusantara Post and Berita Lingkungan, Coordinator of ForBali Gendo Suardhana stated that there were myriad reasons why indigenous people and environmental activists in Bali rejected the reclamation.
This reclamation has high potential to flood the city of Denpasar, remove the mangrove ecosystem that serves as a barrier against waves and tsunamis, and disregard warnings that Benoa Bay is a sacred area for Hindus in Bali,” he said.
Information spread like a sandalwood fire throughout Bali that the central government was forcing its will to reclaim Benoa Bay for money from investors, and all this without consulting indigenous people in Badung Regency or Denpasar City.
From the anxiety in the discussion rooms of the environmental activists, anxiety overflowed into the public space because Benoa Bay is held with strong customary and religious values by the Balinese people. Officially, 13 Traditional Villages in Badung Regency and 6 Traditional Villages in Denpasar City finally stated their firm rejection of the reclamation plan and agreed to hold a demonstration in Benoa Bay in early 2016. About 10,000 people took to the streets and walked along the Bali Mandara sea toll road. ForBali activists also joined the traditional community.
“If there are those who say that Benoa Bay is not a sacred place, then that person does not understand Benoa Bay. The Traditional Village understands better, because we in the Traditional Village hold customary and religious rituals in Benoa Bay,” said Wayan Swarsa as the Head of the Kuta Traditional Village.
Demonstration by the Balinese against the reclamation of Benoa Bay. (Photo: Walhi Bali)
Modeling
Being an organization that works in Bali, the Vice President of CI Indonesia at the time, asked CI to respond to this appropriately raised issue; it must be based upon science, by involving also expert partners from universities in a compilation of recommendations in which the birth of new, appropriate policies for Benoa Bay can be facilitated.
“The investment plan is so dense with technical content, we have to speak the same language, and science is a universal language, objective, and understood by investors, decision makers and the public”, said Ketut in relating the event.
The CI Indonesia team decided to create a model so that the public could more easily understand the world or a part of it with simulations and visualizations. CI Indonesia directly contacted several parties in order to compile the study, requesting experts in modeling and geomorphology coming from Warmadewa University and Udayana University, Bali, to join and collect data, including purchasing several maps.
The secondary data collected was apparently complete for modeling, including topographic maps, geomorphology, tides, DAS runoff data, sedimentation, bathymetry, and coastal ecosystems. “We did a desktop analysis, so primary data from field measurements was no longer needed”, Iwan said.
While the CI team worked on the modeling, the situation in Badung City continued to heat up because street demonstrations coloured the issue of reclamation and involved many activists from various NGOs. Ketut conveyed his opinion on this matter. “CI Indonesia works under a different approach, which is a scientific approach to be used as support in decision making. However, we respect other approaches coming from environmental activist friends,” he said.
An imminent simulation of reclamation was then performed on 15%, to a bigger 80% of the initial conditions, to observe the alterations and impacts on the Bay and the ecosystem around it. The simulation result shows that reclamation of 80% of the Bay area will lower the quantity of water flow into the Bay from 25 million to 10 million cubic meters, leading to an alteration in the condition of waters within the Bay like salinity, temperature, and reduce input of nutrients from the outside into the Bay will affect the mangrove system.
Assuming the 15% of reclamation undertaken is in area, reclamation will lead to the increasing in sea level only at its southern area where there exists Nusa Dua tourists area but highly when reclamation covered the area by 80% to shield the coastals surrounding Sungai Mati and Denpasar city, located to the North and Northwest Bay.
Modeling shows that reclamation in Benoa Bay more than 50% will retain potential water in the bay and cause river water overflow to be retained or to change direction toward the mainland, leading to flooding in parts of South Denpasar, especially at times when the rainy season hits its peak.
Based on findings of this analysis, CI Indonesia’s recommendation submitted is to include Benoa Bay into the spatial plan as a Marine Conservation Area for Badung Regency. Ketut and Iwan presented the results of this study to several Banjar around the bay. “As an academic approach, our task is finished there,” said Iwan. But on the streets the situation remained heated and demonstrations continued.
Then, in September 2013, a comprehensive research outcome on reclamation by Udayana University of Bali also concluded that the plan was not feasible to be continued. “Because there were two different study results from the university, both were submitted to the University Senate for further study, and we have agreed that reclamation is not feasible in Benoa Bay, both from an environmental, economic, and social and cultural perspective,” said Udayana University Chancellor Ketut Suastika at that time.
Modeling projection of land area submerged in flood in 15% and 80% reclamation scenarios in Benoa Bay (Source: CI Indonesia, 2013)
Because of the widespread protests and rejections, the Governor of Bali revoked his decision by issuing a new letter number 1727/01-B/HK/2013 concerning the Feasibility Study Permit for the Utilization, Development and Management Plan for the Benoa Bay Waters Area of Bali Province. Activists and indigenous peoples were not satisfied because this new letter did not stop the reclamation.
Demonstrations continued to take place on the streets of Denpasar and 14 Traditional Village Heads went to the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) in Jakarta to continue stating their rejection of the reclamation plan. “We reject the reclamation of Benoa Bay because it will destroy traditional and religious values. There are seventy sacred points in Benoa Bay that will be dredged by this project. There are vibrations of life and spiritual energy that must be maintained by the Traditional Village Heads as a moral obligation and belief that we hold on to,” said Swarsa from Kuta Village.
Towards the end of 2016, the plan by the developer to reclaim Benoa was silenced and all construction work came to a stop. Finally, on August 27, 2018, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry announced that the Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) permit for the reclamation project still had to be completed.
Moreover, the permit held by PT TWBI had expired on August 26, 2018. It meant that PT TWBI did not hold a permit to continue the construction of the project. “If the location permit has expired, then we can’t discuss the environmental impact analysis anymore. Then the project is finished,” said Suardhana from ForBali. Activists and indigenous people had won the battle for Benoa Bay. At least it did, until a state-owned company suddenly completed a concrete pier in the northern part of the bay by reclamation.
Chapter Two
The State-Owned Enterprise, PT Pelindo III has been reported to have quietly schemed to reclaim the waters of Benoa Bay in the north up to an area of 132.9 ha and by the middle of 2019, they have added 85 ha of land area.
The company also provided the state with a budget of IDR 1.2 trillion to develop Benoa Port as the Bali Maritime Tourism Hub (BMTH). “The money was used for dredging the shipping lane,” said President Director of Pelindo III at that time, Saefudin Noor to reporters.
The dredging of the port allegedly damaged the mangrove ecosystem in Benoa Bay. Vice President of Corporate Communication of PT Pelindo III, Wilis Aji Wiranata, admitted the damage, but only in a small area. “The area of the mangrove is around 17 ha and only a little is damaged, that is only the front part,” he said. He did not explain in detail when asked to provide more detailed data. Pelindo also sought authorization to blast coral reefs so as to widen the sea lanes leading into and out of the port.
Head of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Warmadewa University, Denpasar, I Ketut Sudiarta, said that any coral reef cutting must be preceded by a special study and socialization on its environmental impact. “Whether the cutting is needed or not, it must be studied more deeply and comprehensively,” said Sudiarta.
Worried about the impact of the second reclamation round, ForBali sent an open letter to President Joko Widodo about the many reclamation plans for Benoa Bay, including expansion of the airport, development of sports tourism in Tanjung Benoa, and expansion of Benoa Port.
ForBali criticized the plan to expand Benoa Port with reclamation because it is located in an area prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. In its letter, ForBali asked President Jokowi to revoke the Port Master Plan that expands the port with reclamation and to stop the reclamation that is currently underway.
Benoa Port, which was enlarged by destroying the mangrove ecosystem in Benoa Bay, cannot be used yet due to management conflicts. (Photo: meniti.com).
Responding to various criticisms from civil society, the monitoring team from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry that inspected the project found several violations committed by the developer, causing damage to around 17 ha of mangrove forest. Based on the findings of the MoEF team, Bali Governor I Wayan Koster finally ordered Pelindo III to stop all reclamation activities since August 2019.
Today, tourists who drive along the Bali Mandara toll road crossing Benoa Bay will notice an empty, unused concrete pier with a no-entry barrier. The Bali Provincial Government had not yet agreed with PT Pelindo III regarding the profit sharing of the port management when the governor decided to stop its construction. The ecosystem of the bay has been damaged and the promised economic benefits have not yet been obtained.
(IGG Maha Adi)
