Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Fri, May 25, 2012
Archive Search

Controversial Bali Project May Fail to Host APEC Summit After All
Made Arya Kencana | February 16, 2012

Share This Page
8
37
0
2
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

DrDez
2:31pm Feb 16, 2012

well i have to say I am shocked to hear that a major construction project will fail to meet the deadline

Words fail me

facepalm
12:48pm Feb 16, 2012

And this is from Pastika who declared a moratorium on new resort developments in already saturated Bali. Anything wrong with the sprawling hotels with meeting facilities already in existence on the island or is this all down to posturing and corruption as usual? Pastika lost control of Bali when he allowed district chiefs and regents to ignore government legislation - he's too pre-occupied with suing local newspapers to care for the island.

  • Previous
  • 1
  • Next

Denpasar. Next year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is unlikely to be held at the planned sprawling Bali International Park because construction of the controversial venue is not likely to be completed in time, Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said on Wednesday.

Pastika said that an official decision had not yet been made, but “if we are looking at the time left, it appears impossible.”

The APEC summit is traditionally held in November each year. Speaking in Denpasar, Pastika said that building the immense convention center in time would be difficult.

The BIP, which is expected to include a 10,000-seat convention center and 23 residences for visiting dignitaries, is being built on a 250-hectare plot in Jimbaran in the southern part of Bali. It will have a 200-room hotel, an international hospital, an art market, a gallery and a “peace park.”

A 2010 presidential decree stated that the $280 million project would host the APEC event.

However, construction has been hindered because the constructor appointed to develop the project, Jimbaran Hijau, has yet to obtain a permit from the Badung authorities.

Badung district chief Anak Agung Gede Agung has argued that the project violated another presidential regulation on the Denpasar-Badung-Gianyar and Tabanan urban regions.

He has said that Jimbaran Hijau has not produced a map of the region with the new construction plan. Without the plan, Agung said, the district development planning office was not able to determine whether the project’s functions had complied with local zoning laws.

The company also has yet to be able to produce title deeds for the land it plans to use.

Jimbaran Hijau director Putu Agung Prianta said the company had yet to receive official notification that the BIP had been stripped of its status as host of the APEC summit.

He said the company was still waiting for a permit to start work on the BIP. “It is still being withheld by the district chief. I don’t know what the game is. Our position is just to wait,” Prianta said.

Wayan Gendo Suardana, the chairman of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said he was happy that the BIP would not host the APEC summit.

“From early on we have been saying that the BIP project is sacrificing Bali’s spatial zoning,” Gendo said.