Bali Concert Venue to be built at Port of Benoa
Bali Concert Venue to be built at Port of Benoa
Erick Thohir, the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), has revealed plans to create a concert venue at Bali’s Port of Benoa – Bali Maritime Tourism Hub.
As reported by Beritabali.com, the BUMN Minister has unveiled the plan during an inspection of major development projects underway at the Port.
Erick Thohir described how an 8.11-hectare area of the Port known as Taman Segara Kerthi will be converted into a concert venue as part of an integrated BMTH facility containing a marina, entertainment facilities, and shopping areas.
“The garden area that will be converted into a concert venue forms part of the development of the Port of Benoa as an integrated tourism maritime destination,” explained Erick Thohir in a press statement issued on Monday, 17 December 2024.
According to Thohir, the development of a concert area is intended to maximize the potential of the Port of Benoa as a favorite port of call for international cruise ships. Praising improvements in the Benoa Port facilities, Thohir underlined how Benoa’s cruise ship pier can now serve a ship up to 500 meters long or long enough for two “jumbo” cruise ships to berth simultaneously.
Improvements at the Bali Maritime Tourism Hub (BMTH) have cost Rp. 1,2 trillion for sea tourism infrastructure and Rp. 2.2 trillion for land-based infrastructure improvement encompassing entertainment, retail, and marine elements.
In 2024, Bali’s Port of Benoa welcomed 56 large cruise ships carrying more than 102,639 passengers.
NEW TOLL ROAD BALI
New Toll Road Bali Project to Resume in 2025. As reported by Tribun-Bali.com, the National Toll Road Agency (BPJT), operating under the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, has issued an update on Bali’s long-stalled Gilimanuk-Mengwi Toll Road.
Based on BPJT documents, the Gilimanuk-Mengwi Toll Project is now in the “pre-qualification phase.” The Gilimanuk-Mengwi project covers a distance of 96.84 kilometers at a projected cost of Rp. 25.404 trillion.
“The scope of the project includes funding, technical planning, operation, maintenance for the entire toll road as well as construction implementation on the Toll Road Business Entity (BUJT) portion,” explained the BPJT document dated Wednesday, 11 December 2024.
The Gilimanuk-Mengwi Toll Road will transect three Bali – Jembrana, Tabanan, and Badung regencies involving 13 sub-districts (kecamatan) and 58 villages.
At a recent post-election gathering of campaign workers and supporters held in Jembrana on Wednesday, 11 December 2024, Governor-elect Wayan Koster assured that the Mengwi-Gilimanuk Toll Road would continue to completion.
The renewed pre-qualification and bidding process will be performed Online, concluding on Monday, 03 February 2025.
Individual corporate bodies or ad hoc consortiums can apply and participate in pre-qualification. Those participating in the process must either be the CEO of the participating bidder or hold a Power of Attorney issued by the CEO. The application must also include a copy of an identity card (KTP)/driver’s license (SIM)/Passport.
The entire pre-qualification process will be done without charge to the participating applicant.
An initial groundbreaking ceremony was conducted on 10 September 2022 before the toll road project came to a halt due to the failure of the initial lead to secure funds or investors to allow the road project to continue.
Now, both assurances issued by Bali’s Governor-elect Wayan Koster and statements from the BJPT have reignited faith that construction on the essential road connection will recommence.
Koster told the press that, at this point, officials are working to secure land and right of way in the Perkutatan, Jembran region.
In closing, Koster said: “The tollways project continues. In the middle of 2025, construction will start.”
The Gilimanuk-Mengwi Toll Road is composed of three sections:
- Section One: Gilimanuk – Perkutatan 53.6 kilometers.
- Section Two: Perkutatan -Soka 24.3 kilometers.
- Section Three: Soka – Mengwi 18.9 kilomteres
Tragic dead of 2 Tourists at Ubud Monkey Forest
Gusts of strong winds and tree roots poorly grounded in rain-saturated soil caused at least three trees located on the south side of the Prajapati Temple at Ubud’s Monkey Forest to fall on Tuesday, 10 December 2024, at 12:25 pm, killing two and injuring others visiting the iconic tourist attraction.
As reported by Balipost.com, the Chief of the Ubud Police Precinct, Police Commissioner Nyoman Sudarsana, immediately dispatched officers to the Monkey Forest to assist the casualties and supervise clearing the fallen trees.
Police coordinated the evacuation of visitors from the Monkey Forest following the incident and the installation of police lines around the accident scene.
The falling trees killed two foreign female tourists: Funny Justine Christine (32) of France and Kim Hyoeun (42) from South Korea. Another female tourist, Lee Sunni (45) from South Korea, was seriously injured and hospitalized at the Kenak Medika Hospital in Ubud.
Nyoman Lilir, manager of the Monkey Forest Public Attraction, told police that he was inspecting the popular monkey forest site during heavy winds and torrential rains when he heard the sound of falling trees.
Responding to the crashing sound, Lilir discovered that a Beringin Tree (Banyan Tree- Ficus Benghalensis), a Pule tree (Pulai Tree – Alstonia Angustiloba), and Kresek Tree (Deciduous fig-Ficus Superba) standing near the south side of the Prjapati Temple had all fallen. The monkey forest was crowded with visitors at the time of the incident, resulting in people being struck by the falling trees.
The Ubud Monkey Forest covers an area of 12.5 hectares and is home to 117 species of plants. The sacred forest is also home to over 1260 long-tailed macaque monkeys. The location’s role as a holy site and monkey forest traces back in historical records to the 14th century.
Arresting Foreign Prostitutes is Problematic!
In the Indonesian language, female prostitutes engaging in commercial sex are euphemistically called “kupu kupu malam” or, quite literally, “butterflies of the night.” Immigration officials in Bali have recently complained that trying to deter a growing tide of foreign women working as prostitutes is problematic.
Detik.com reports that Immigration officials freely admit they confront many difficulties in preventing foreign women from “selling themselves” in Bali.
Speaking about foreign women as commercial sex workers in Bali, Samuel Toba, the Head of Immigration in Bali’s Ministry of Law and Human Rights, explained on Wednesday, 04 December 2024: “They (the foreign prostitutes) come to Bali with an original intent of pure tourism. But, once they arrived here, they see the opportunity to work as prostitutes.”
“The intention was to come here (to Bali) for tourism. It turned out that when they got here, they saw an opportunity (to get involved in prostitution),” said the Head of the Immigration Division of Bali Ministry of Law and Human Rights Regional Office, Samuel Toba, at his office, Wednesday (4/12/2024).
Samuel continued, noting how difficult it is for Immigration officials to determine the true intentions of foreign tourists visiting Bali. In some cases, however, background information from their originating country helps Bali immigration officials identify tourist visitors with criminal records.
Usually, after being caught and questioned, the foreigners admit that they were traveling in Bali merely as a “cover.” These individuals see an opportunity for prostitution services working under the guise of entertainment or massage places.
“Because our immigration officers cannot detect when these foreigners want to work as prostitutes,” Samuel explained. He commented that one way to eliminate those foreign tourists who violate the rules is simply by tightening supervision.
Bali immigration authorities operate a foreigner monitoring team (Tim Pora) that patrols the streets and monitors the Internet to take action against foreigners who violate their residence permits in Bali.
He continued, Immigration authorities have collaborated with the Bali Provincial Government (Pemprov) and law enforcement to tighten supervision. Immigration also appeals to the public to report if they know of any foreigners suspected of violating residence permit regulations.
“Therefore, monitoring foreigners once in Indonesia is not only the responsibility of Immigration. All stakeholders, agencies, and public members are also involved in supervision. The public must provide information to officers,” Samuel said.
As widely reported in local media, Immigration officers have arrested several foreign nationals involved in prostitution in Bali in 2024. These cases have also included individuals opening “plus-plus spa services” or becoming commercial sex workers.
Most recently, two Russian citizens were arrested as “plus-plus” massage therapists. Both were eventually deported from Bal.
Police officials collected several pieces of evidence, including baby oil, sex toys, and cash in US and Australian dollars.
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Main Article: Bali Concert Venue / 12.2024
