Bali floods reveal the effects of unplanned development and poor waste management

Ruth Deidre stood where her family’s former home was, closed her eyes, and prayed for relatives lost in the devastating floods that ravaged the tourist island of Bali this year.

The floods, which killed at least 18 people and left four missing, were the worst on the island in a decade, according to the Indonesian Meteorological Agency. This was partly caused by unprecedented rainfall, but it was also a reflection of years of urban overdevelopment and a waste management system under enormous pressure.

The once green south of Bali has been transformed by a tourism boom that has brought jobs and economic benefits, but also led to the proliferation of buildings in rice fields and coconut groves that provided a natural balance.

These changes are clearly evident in comparisons made by the Atlas Nusantara project of the conservation start-up The Tree Map, which combined declassified US surveillance images of the island from the Cold War era with modern satellite images.

“All this land has now been turned into roads or buildings, and the soil is no longer able to absorb water as much,” said the company’s founder, David Gaffo. More than 4.6 million foreign tourists visited Bali between January and August this year, surpassing the island’s population of 4.4 million.

For her part, the Executive Director of the non-governmental organization “Walhi Bali” said: “In recent months, the authorities have demolished illegal buildings on a beach, and have tightened their measures on construction along rivers and on hillsides,” noting that random construction and land conversion “have put Bali in a very disastrous situation.”

shock

Ruth Deidre is the best witness to this, as her house, which she had lived in with her family since 2020, collapsed on the bank of a river during the floods, and many of her relatives were swept away by the water.

The 28-year-old said: “I am still in shock. The flood swept away my brother, father and mother, while the contents of the house disappeared.”

I Wayan Dibawa, who lives nearby, said his dog woke him up amid heavy rain, and he found water rising around his house “within minutes.” The 52-year-old added: “It was terrifying.” “It was so horrific that we were speechless.”

Record rain

Government data shows record rainfall last September, the day before the floods, in several locations, including the Badung area, home to many of the island’s most popular tourist resorts. “Bali has never seen such heavy rains before,” Bali Governor Ai Wayan Koster said, acknowledging that infrastructure problems played a role in the catastrophic floods. He added that a review of construction along four major rivers will be launched, along with a crackdown on construction that violates zoning regulations.

“If the rules are violated, the violators will be held accountable,” Koster continued, noting that he plans to put in place regulations to protect Bali’s rice fields from any further development.

waste

Udayana University professor I Geddy Hendrawan, who has researched waste issues, said research conducted in 2019 showed that Bali produces 4,200 tons of waste per day, less than half of which goes to landfills.

He pointed out that waste that is disposed of improperly causes blockages in waterways and drains.

The Bali government will close a major landfill on the island this year, and has urged families to manage their organic waste, but Henderawan said that “many people have no alternative but to dispose of it,” adding: “We all suffer from the waste problem due to the absence of a good system for managing it.”

Koster said that the local government wants to build a waste-to-energy plant, but this is unlikely to happen quickly. The amount of waste is likely to increase if a planned second airport attracts more tourists to the island. The government says the facility will expand development in the north of the island, but Krishna fears it will simply replicate the south’s problems elsewhere.

About “The Japan Times”

. Of the 4,200 tons of waste Bali produces daily, less than half of it goes to landfill.