Monday, July 19, 2010

Latest Bali Updates













Om Swastiastu ...

Read the full report at: http://www.balidiscovery.com/update/update723.asp

Top news stories this week include three narcotics-related stories. A Philippine woman was arrested last week carrying heroin at Bali's airport, while the Bali courts handed down life sentences to two Malaysian guilty of carrying methamphetamine into Bali last January. Scott Rush, a member of the 'Bali Nine,' filed a formal appeal last week, seeking a reduction of his death penalty.

There's growing concern that thuggery and criminality is getting out of hand in Kuta with the brutal slaying of a nightspot employee in front of horrified guests. Climate change and a "normal disease cycle" are cited as the reasons behind the record number of dengue fever cases recorded in South Bali. And, a Bali-bound Merpati flight from Lombok fails to take off as passengers flee a smoke-filled cabin on the runway.

Zoning, or the lack thereof, remains sadly topical in Bali. There's a call from Jakarta for Bali's regents to strike a compromise over the RTRW (provincial zoning law) with the governor to stem the rampant development now affecting the island. We also have a pictorial editorial on the blight of cliff-side development on Bali's Ungasan peninsula. Read and weep.

In airline news, Strategic Airlines obtains permission to fly between Port Hedland and Bali beginning in August, while AirAsia (Indonesia) declares its intent to start flying between Bali and Darwin in October.

The handicraft sector in Bali received two potential boosts this week with the announcement of plans to modernize the Sukawati traditional market in 2010 and the launch of a program to persuade Bali land owners to plant trees to provide badly needed raw materials for the island's wood carvers.

Art lovers have a number of coming exhibitions to look forward to. There's a traveling exhibition of 1930 photographs by Horace Bristol coming to Jakarta and Bali. Angelo Bellebono shows his multi-media works at Biasa Artspace in Kuta July 30-September 15, 2010. And, students from two leading Indonesian art institutes will exhibit their skills at Hanna Art Space in Ubud July 24-August 8, 2010.

For the bean counters out there – read the latest installment of "Bali by the Numbers" examining May 2010 tourist arrivals to Bali.

Alll this . . .and more . . .in Edition 723 Bali Update.



Om Çanti Çanti Çanti Om ...

J.M. Daniels - Bali Update
Bali Discovery Tours

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