Garuda Indonesia have announced that they will add 9.984 seats on its flights to Bali (Denpasar) over the coming Christmas and New Year's holiday period.

Communication with the Bali Post, the airline's Vice President Pujobroto has confirmed that 19,450 additional seat to six destinations between the dates of December 19, 2006 until January 10, 2007.

In addition to the additional capacity to Bali, Garuda will also add 268 seat to Batam; 804 seats to Solo; 804 seats to Pekanbaru; 6,880 seats to Singapore; and 810 seats to Hong Kong.

Garuda will generate the additional seat capacity either by adding frequencies or utilizing larger aircraft on existing services.

During the critical traffic periods of 20-26 December Garuda will deploy senior managers to various flight centers as members of special service teams to address problems and devise solutions as they arise in order to maximize service to the public.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has instructed Garuda Indonesia to seek a European based consultant in order to enhance the quality and standards of aviation safety. The instructions to hire a foreign consultant comes as something of a surprise from the man who has made no secret of his preference for local consultants.

An interview with the Vice President published in the Bali Post on December 1, 2007, provides backgrounds on Kalla's call for the urgent hiring of a European aviation consultant.

The Interview: Jusuf Kalla

Bali Post: Why do you want to use a consultant from the European Union?

Jusuf Kalla: Standards of safety and the quality of aviation in Europe is sometimes of a higher standard, even when compared to America (FAA). They have their own standard and we must improve our standards. I have ordered PT Garuda to seek a European consultant to fix those things we must fix.

Bali Post: What actually needs to be done by the Indonesian aviation sector?

Jusuf Kalla: What must be done by Indonesia is to improve the standards of safety and security on its flights, not to undertake protests or threaten retaliatory flight bans. The cornerstone of every flight is safety. Because of that, the standards used by the European Union are appropriate everyone, including Indonesia. And, don't forget, this is about our image. Because of this I have advanced Garuda (first); if Garuda can fly to Europe that would be nice.

Bali Post: Will Indonesia retaliate with banning flights?

Jusuf Kalla: Don't be mad with the Europeans, look upon this as a wake up call to improve quality and safety of our flights. How can we be angry at someone else when it is us ourselves who have failed to make the grade? Don't be emotional for that will only further reduce the quality and image of Indonesian aviation.

As an assistance to property buyers in Bali, here's a few highlight from Bali's Zoning Regulations of 2005 (Peraturan Daerah Provinsi Bali Nomor 3 Tahun 2005);

Set Back Rules from Ocean Fronts

. Set back rules for building along the seaside forbid buildings within a distance measured 100 meters from the high water mark. [Pasal 19 (6 -a)]

. The Regency and City Government with the agreement of the Governor can be varied from the 100 meter set back rule based on considerations of wave height, the function and use of the area in question, geological condition of the beach and the potential for erosion and tsunamis in the subject area. [Pasal 19 (6 -b)]

. Set back rules from the ocean can be varied:

1. For city areas and areas used for tourism purposes with wave heights of less than 2 meters where the beach is not subject to erosion, a set back of not less than 50 meters can be granted. [Pasal 19 (6c-1)]

2. For city areas and areas used for tourism purposes with wave heights of more than 2 meters where beach areas are not subject to erosion a set back of not less than 75 meters can be granted. For beaches that suffer erosion the minimum set back is 100 meters. [Pasal 19 (6c-2)]

3. In village areas where waves are less than 2 meters and the beach fronts is not subject to erosion the minimum set back is 100 meters. On beach front with waves of less than 2 meters but subject to erosion the minimum set back becomes 125 meters. [Pasal 19 (6c -3)]

4. In village areas where waves are greater than 2 meters on beaches not subject to erosion the set back is 125 meters. In village areas with waver are greater than 2 meters and subject to erosion the minimum ser back become 150 meters. [Pasal 19 (6c -4)]

Set Back from Rivers

. Set back from rivers in city settings without a threat of flooding :

1. In city settings with no flood threat, a set back of 3 meters from river embankments. [Pasal 19 (8a -1)].

2. In city settings with no flood threat, a set back of 10 meters from rivers with a depth of less than 3 meters. [Pasal 19 (8a -2)].

3. In city settings with no flood threat, a set back of 15 meters from river with .a depth of between 3 and 20 meters. [Pasal 19 (8a -3)].

4. In city settings with no flood threat, a set back of 30 meters from rivers with a depth of more than 20 meters. [Pasal 19 (8a -4)].

. Set back from rivers in city settings with a threat of flooding:

1. In city settings with a flood threat, a set back of 3 meters from river embankments. [Pasal 19 (8b -1].

2. In city settings with a light flood threat, a set back of 25 meters. [Pasal 19 (8b -2].

3. In city settings with a medium flood threat, a set back of 40 meters. [Pasal 19 (8b -3].

In city setting with a strong flood threat, a set back of 100 meters. [Pasal 19 (8b -4].

. Set back from rivers in a village setting with no threat of flooding:

1. In village setting with no flood threat, a set back of 3 meters from river embankment. [Pasal 19 (8c -1].

2. In village setting with no flood threat, a set back of 10 meters from river with a depth of less than 3 meters. [Pasal 19 (8c -2].

3. In village setting with no flood threat, a set back of 20 meters from a river with a depth of 3 - 20 meters. [Pasal 19 (8c -3].

4. In village setting with no flood threat, a set back of 30 meters from a river of more than 20 meters in dept. [Pasal 19 (8c -].

. Set back from rivers in a village setting with a flooding threat:

1. In a village setting with a flood threat, a set back of 5 meters from an embankment. [Pasal 19 (8d -1].

2. In a village setting with a flood threat, a set back of 50 meters in light flood threat areas. [Pasal 19 (8d - 2].

3. In a village setting with a flood threat, a set back of 100 meters in a medium flood threat area, [Pasal 19 (8d - 3].

4. In a village setting with a flood threat, a set back of 150 meters in a high flood threat area. [Pasal 19 (8d - 4]

Penalties

. Those found to have violated these regulations are subject to criminal penalties of up to 6 months imprisonment and a fine of Rp. 50 million. [Bab XI, Pasal 42 (1)]

. Those found to be violating these rules can face a suspension of activities on the subject land, closure of business, revocation of licenses and demolition of illegal structures. [Bab IX, Pasal 40 (1)].

. Civil servants proven to have acted outside the zoning regulations are subject to sanctions set forth for the disciplining of Civil Servants. [Bab IX, Pasal 40 (2)]

Sasya Tranggono

Sasya Tranggono is an eminent name among Indonesia's watercolor artists. Describe by many as "feminine" because of her use of soft color, flowers and titles. Born into a Javanese family of entrepreneurs and educated in the West, Sasya decided to embark on a mission to express herself and her cultural identity via her artwork. To Sasya, flowers are simple objects that can be presented beyond themselves.

As art critic Jean Couteau says of her: "Sasya wraps the flowers in a magical aura of color that locates them beyond the 'real'. The flowers belong to the "unreality" of longing - the longing for an Indonesian identity."

Sasya studied industrial engineering at Smith College in Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York (BSC: 1987); She is also a graduate in business administration from the Rotterdam School of Management in Erasmus University, The Netherlands (MBA: 1991). Sasya's art skills debut at the Vrije Academie Rotterdam, The Netherlands (1995). She also belongs to the Werve Shell Art Club in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Nicholas Hilman

Nicholas Hilman was born in 1994 in The Hague. Nicholas started to paint at the age of 2.5 years, learning his painting lessons from his mother Sasya Tranggono. Many of his works are inspired by his daily life as a child growing up in a big city. His ideas are caught from people he meets, media he is exposed to and trips he has taken. From a scene of Godfather movie to the busy city of Jakarta, as well as his schoolmates - all are interesting sources of inspirations for his paintings on canvas as well as ceramics. His fondness of cooking and food are also reflected on his ceramic artworks as well as paintings. Seemingly unconcerned with style and techniques, Nicholas plays more freely with his theme. Such unconstrained concept makes for a wonderful variation of thematic artworks.

Using a brilliant choice of bright colors, Nicholas plays with all that interests him, landscape, objects and figures. It might be too early to mention his style but looking at the colors and figures, such as in Figh-Ting, people might suppose he has seen the artworks of Austrian artist Hunderstwasser, New York's Jean-Michel Basquiat and Indonesian painter Eddy Hara. In his painting titled Fake Money, for example, he points out consumerism culture by illustrating credit card as a tool for buying clothes, shoes, and a cemetery lot. On his ceramic pieces, the odd nature of raw glazed ceramics that absorb color instantly do not make him awkward in manifesting his ideas.

In "My Son and I", Nicholas wishes to introduce his works to a Bali audience.

"My Son and I" - An Exhibition by Sasya Tranggono and Nicholas Hilman

December 14, 2007 through March 7, 2008

Open daily 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Jenggala Gallery, Jalan Uluwatu II, Jimbaran Telephone ++62-(0)361-703311

Click Images to Enlarge

The Brazilian cultural art form of Capoeira (Ka-pu-e-ira) has achieved world-wide popularity over the past decade. Renowned for its dynamic and energetic style, Capoeira has been accepted into popular culture as both a respected art form and a unique fusion of movement, music and martial arts. Today, Capoeira continues to expand over every continent, attracting new students with its fascinating and unusual style aided in no small way by international advertising firms who use Capoeira to promote their client products to the youth market. Capoeira's acrobatic movements have been described as "the sport of the new millennium."

Arriving in Indonesia in 1999, Capoeira now has thousands of devotees and, like the rest of the world, its dancers have become a regular fixture in national advertising campaigns.

Group Senzala Bali

Group Senzala Bali is the creation of Rod Penn (UK) and Kenoko Hermiaji (Indonesia), two friends who have dedicated the last eight years to the study and promotion of Capoeira. Both men share a mutual passion for the vast technical intricacies of the art. Capoeira was established in Bali in November 2006 and has rapidly drawn new participants. Bali's Capoeira dancers are booked solidly by event organizers, hotels, nightclubs and cafés in Bali.

Bali's Capoeira Festival

Bali will host it first Capoeira Festival December 14-16, 2007. Groups from across Indonesia are expected to attend together with Mestre Gato a living Capoeira legend from Rio de Janeiro accompanied by his Son, Contra Mestre Pedro. Capoeira practitioners from Australia and several Asia countries are also expected to participate.

Here's the schedule for Bali's First Capoeira Festival:

. December 14, 15 & 16 2007 - Workshops at the Canggu Country Club led by Mestre Gato and Contra Mestre Pedro.

. December 15, 2007 Mandinga! Afro-Brasil Party at Fabio's Restaurant featuring DJ Stevie G (USA), live percussion, Samba dancers and a professional Capoeira demonstration.

. December 16, 2007 - Batizado at the Canggu Country Club. A special "graduation" ceremony for student who will receive their belts after performing with Mestre Gato and other instructors.

For More Information

Fore more information contact Rod Penn, Instructor at Senzala Bali at rodpenn@hotmail.com or Kenoko Hermiaji at kennocko@yahoo.com, Telephone ++62-(0)81558559660 of ++62-(0) 8174768709.

Visitors to Bali and delegate attending the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) between December 3 - 14, 2007 will have the opportunity to purchase trees saplings that will eventually become part of a "new" forest on the barren island of Nusa Penida, located only a few miles from Bali's shores.

Seeds for Bali

Seeds for Bali is a non-profit program initiated by Bank Danamon Indonesia and co-sponsored by Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC), in partnership with Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF). The program aims to pilot reforestation efforts on some of the most arid places in Bali, with "seed money" provided by Danamon, BTDC and donations from American Express Card members worldwide.

Through the promotion of Seeds for Bali at 3 tented locations in Bali the organizers hope to help accelerate public awareness on the important role of trees and reforestation in the effort to combat global warming. Via the sale of subsidized trees for eventual planting on Nusa Penida, participants will make a real impact on a specific micro-habitat conservation effort, offset their carbon footprint and make a positive contribution to the economy of Bali.

Working with Friends of the National Park Foundation (FNPF), a ten hectare block of land at Nusa Penida's Puncak Temu and another plot of equal size at Adegan Village have been chosen to receive the thousands of trees targeted to be sold during the UNFCCC. The project works to ensure an 80% survival rate of the trees through the end of fifth year by working with local communities who help raise seedlings, prepare ground for planting, establishing catchments systems, undertake site maintenance and ongoing plant care. FNPF, the executor of Seeds for Bali program, estimates the cost of caring for a tree for 5 years is around US$3.30 per plant.

The choice of seedlings is based on a wide range of native species deemed suitable for the extreme conditions existing at the planting area, able to benefit local wildlife and birds, provide an economic benefit to the local community and have a firm connection to local cultural traditions.

Among the trees selected for Nusa Penida are sandalwood and mahogany trees with planting scheduled to commence in mid-December. An aerial surveillance program will be employed to track progress and safeguard the new plantings.

Donors and interested parties will be able to monitor the project on line at [Friends Nation Park Website.]

Seed for Bali information and purchase booths will be open from December 3-14 in three separate locations: Nusa Dua next to the Bali Eye, Nusa Dua opposite the entrance to Bali Collection and in Kuta in front of the Hard Rock Café. Trees can also be purchased through the end of December at the Bali Danamon Office (Legian Street) and Rascals (Legian and Kuta Streets).

For more information call American Express Merchant Services - Bali Office at ++62-(0)361- 757510/11 or ask your Hotel Concierge.

Related Sites

[Friends of the National Park Foundation]

[Bali Tourism Development Corporation Web Site]

Education is the key to environmental awareness, and language is the vehicle that endows us with the ability to learn and understand. Indonesia's ancient tradition of story-telling is slowly giving way to reading and a modern lifestyle that provides much less time for leisure activities and precious family time with our children.

Creating a story for children in three languages for Bali - a group of concerned individuals comprising a writer, illustrator, story-teller, architect, environmental activist and publisher - all came together to create the "Penyu dan Lumba-Lumba" (Turtle and Dolphin), each drawing upon their own particular skill in order to create a meaningful educational tool for the children of Bali.

"This is the first in a series of those books, telling the stories of birds, animals and children who are experiencing the life-threatening problems caused by plastic waste and rubbish which is dumped in the rivers and ends up in the sea on the island of Bali," says writer Maggie Dunkle.

The Clean Bali Series has as its mission to educate through having fun. As the children learn to deal with the rubbish they also discover their social responsibility. Together, they will be able to make a change.

Working with Balinese story-teller Made Taro, well known on the Island for his passion in keeping traditional children's games and story-telling alive, gave the team a special understanding of how children learn by playing together. Today's children are often solitary and lacking in social skills, their main source of out-of-school learning being television and video games, sometimes violent, and rarely educational.

Including beautiful full-page illustrations by Margiyono, the team has also included a board game at the back of the book (plus a separate game-board in a bag) together with a song composed by Komang Dhananjaya Wishnuputra that children can learn and supplement with addition verses of their own. These combined elements of creativity, playing and fun are what makes this first book in the series so very special.

Through a program of generous sponsorship that includes Metro Department Store and Cerebrofort Kalbe Farma, 3000 pre-purchased books will be given away free to local schools, with a focus on reaching those in coastal areas first, where environmental degradation due to rubbish is particularly serious. Another 2000 books will be distributed for sale in the bookshops of Bali, and the proceeds from these sales will go into funding future editions.

"Penyu dan Lumba-lumba" is destined to become a handy teaching tool. To ensure that teachers are able to make good use of this book in their classrooms, the Clean Bali Series team and the publisher, Saritaksu Editions are working with Yayasan Gelombang Udara Segar (GUS) - a local foundation to distribute the book to schools. The foundations ongoing environmental educational program in schools has already reached some 15,000 children in more than 200 schools.

For more information telephone Sarita Newson at Saritaksu Editions at ++62-(0)361-287816.

[ www.cleanbaliseries.org Website]

Long-awaited reports from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that could have cleared the way for the lifting of the current blacklisting of Indonesian aviation have now been published. While noting improvements have been made in aviation safety, EASA decided to leave the current ban in place, saying much remains to be done before the skies of the Republic can be declared "safe" for European travelers.

The EU reviewed the results of a six-man team sent to Indonesia to audit safety of domestic carriers. The EU aviation safety and environment director Roberto Salvarani announced that "both the Indonesian presentation and the report of the audit by our own experts indicate there has been some progress." Adding "it (progress) is marginal when compared with the overall restructuring that the administration needs to do."

Placing much of the blame on Indonesia's civil aviation authority, Salvarani called for a complete reorganization, with sufficient resources and political commitment to ensute the Government is competent to oversee 42 air operators. Salvarani concluded, "it's obvious that today it cannot...so the decision was taken that the entire fleet from Indonesia will remain on the blacklist."

The continuing "blacklisting" prohibits Indonesian aircraft from landing in Europe, a ban of little consequence given the fact that no Indonesian carrier currently flies to any European port. At the same time, however, the ban continue to casts Indonesian aviation in a negative light and thwarts the desires and abilities of European travelers to visit Indonesian destinations beyond their international port of arrival.

In reaching its decision to continue its negative review of Indonesian air operations, the EU exchanged notes with the Australian Civil Aviation Authority and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration who reportedly supported the EU view that the administration of Indonesian flight operations still suffered from major weaknesses.

Protests from Indonesian Authorities

The Indonesian press reports that the Minister of Transportation, Jusman Syafii Djamal, was indignant at the continuing blacklisting of Indonesian aviation, depicting the decision as "discrimitive" and vowing to send a letter of protest to the EU Commission on Transportation.

Menawhile, the Minister is resisting calls from national politicians to introduce retalitory bans on European carriers over-flying Indonesian air space.

Related Story

[Indonesian Aviation Seeking a European Stamp of Approval]

[The Unfriendly Skies of Europe]

[Raising the Bar on Indonesian Air Safety]

While Bali prepares to host leadership delegations from more than 189 countries at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), it's worthwhile to re-emphasize here how vitally important the meetings and declarations hammered out between December 3-14th will be to the people of the world.

Lest we be in doubt as to what's at stake, the words of the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, who say that the Earth faces a real scenario more terrifying than any science fiction movies should serve as a haunting reminder of what must be achieved in Bali.

His statements echoed the conclusions of the U.N.'s Forth Assessment Report on Climate Change representing the considered opinions of over 100 climate change scientists who continue to monitor the world's steady decline down the slippery slope of a warmer planet. When men and women of science who are normally inclined to speak in couched terms begin to shout dire warnings, the world would do well to listen.

Asia is on the front line of the battle against global warming. The world's most populous nations, who may soon be unable to feed their people due anticipated crop failures, could lose hard won economic and social advances if the world doesn't deal with curbing greenhouse gasses.

Indonesia, where Greenpeace estimates that areas equivalent to 300 soccer fields are deforested every hour, is at once the biggest potential loser or winner in the final outcome of the discussions and initiatives to be launched in Bali.

What's at Stake?

Just to help focus all our minds as the Bali Climate Change dialogue commences, it might be worth listing the following salient considerations:

. Asia is home to nearly two-thirds of the world's population. Of this total, half live near coastal areas likely to be adversely affected by rising water levels. Are recent floods of North Jakarta which cut off Indonesia's main airport only a hint of what lies ahead?

. Melting glaciers and alpine snow, disappearing ice caps and warming permafrost areas are already changing the economic complexion of wide areas of the world and putting the future viability of entire species in serious doubt.

. The U.N. warns that by the end of the current century surface temperatures will rise between 1.1 degree and 6. degrees centigrade as compared to the recorded averages in the last two decades of the last century. As a result, expect ocean levels to increase 18 centimeters.

. The U.N. also suggests that the current epidemic of heat waves, rainstorms, tropical cyclones and deadly ocean surges are merely precursors of weather phenomena expected to become more common, more widespread and more intense with each passing year.

. While the poor in New Orleans seemed to suffer most in the wake of Katrina, so too were the impoverished people living of Bangladesh devastated by the tropical cyclone Sidr in November 2007. Those people already living in economic jeopardy in coastal and delta areas across Asia are destined to be the ones who suffer worst by changes in weather now underway.

. As Margaret Thatcher warned more than two decades ago, future wars will be fought over water and the rights to access water sources. Fresh water sources throughout Asia are on the decline which will have profound effects on agricultural production and community health.

. UN scientists studying climate change also paint grim pictures of growing world hunger, more disease, violent storms, prolonged droughts and the possible extinction of up to 70% of current plant and animal species.

The Important Work of the Bali Conference

What's at stake in Bali is an urgent and workable continuance to the solutions initially hammered out in Kyoto in 1997. At the very least, there must be a wider acknowledgement of the need to reduce greenhouse gasses among the 190 countries represented in Bali, achieving a degree of unanimity beyond the paltry 35 nations that finally signed on to the Kyoto Protocols. Nations, such as the U.S. and Australia, who refused to sign the Kyoto Protocols arguing that their economic interests outweigh any wider global need to address climate change should be roundly condemned if they fail to exercise their moral responsibility following the Bali conference.

We are only half-joking when we suggest delegates attending the Bali conference failing to devise a concrete program to curb greenhouse gasses should be barred from boarding their carbon-junkie private jets standing by at Bali's airport, inviting the "do-nothing" delegates to swim home in the increasingly luke-warm oceans just off Bali's shores.

Saying that Indonesia's international reputation depends on maintaining safety during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Bali Post provided a pre-conference summary of the extensive security precautions now in place on the Island.

Drills using aircraft, mobile brigades, marine corps members and foot soldiers have all been undertaken in an effort to address every possible threat to holding a successful conference. At least 12,000 police and 7,000 Indonesian military personnel will be on duty during the conference to be centered at Nusa Dua December 3-14, 2007.

Hundreds of special police and military vehicles have been deployed to Bali covering an entire range from escort motorcycles, tanks, bomb disposal units and special operational vehicles. Specially trained K-P corps dogs will also be on assignment at all the Island's gateways and main meeting venues for the conference.

By Land, Sea and Air

Police artillery-equipped patrol boats including the KP Baladewa, KP Bisma and BP Kresna will be cruising the waters around the Island throughout the conference. At least five helicopters will be conducting active patrols near the meeting venues, prepared and practiced to perform VIP and victim evacuations, if a developing situation dictates.

On the ground, the Bali Police will have no less than 900 motorcycles and 135 four-wheeled vehicles on constant patrol. Special crowd control barrier units are on stand by. VIP movements will be facilitated through the deployment of at least 30 escort units.

17 canine unites employing dogs trained in crowd control, explosives detection and perimeter protection will be on duty with their handlers.

Conference Central - Nusa Dua

Sophisticated screening devices and inspection procedures are now in operation at the entrance to the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) Complex at Nusa Dua. Normally staffed by BTDC Security Personnel, the entrance gates to Nusa Dua will have an armed police and military contingent assisting in checking every vehicle, motorcycle and backpack entering the conference complex.

Special screening devices have also been installed at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport including X-rays units capable of reviewing the contents of an entire shipping containers. Protestors seeking to disrupt traffic or the proceedings of the conference will face the daunting prospect of an entire fleet of rapid-deployment barbed-wire trailers and thousands of Mobile Brigade soldiers equipped and trained to deal with unruly crowds.

Within the BTDC Complex an entire city of tents have been built to house NGO and supporting players at the Conference.

Related Story

[One Week and Counting - UN Climate Change Conference in Bali]

[7,000 Troops on Standby to Secure Climate Change Conference]

[Clouds Over the Bali Climate Change Conference]

[Bali to Host U.N. Climate Change Conference]

[Dec. Climate Change Conference - Book Your Hotel Now!]

[Climate Change Conference to cost US$12 Million]

[Reducing Bali's Carbon Footprint]

[How to Jettison a Jet]

The Bali Post reports that citizens living on Tanjung Benoa in South Bali are protesting the building of The Segara apartment complex which, according to some locals, stands too close the Pura Segara temple. Six community leaders from Tanjung Benoa recently paid a visit on the Vice-Chairman of the Regional Parliament in Bali, I Ketut Tama Tenaya, the Chairman of 'Commission B' I Wayan Suyasa and parliamentarian I Nyoman Penayasa.

Following that meeting, Tama Tenaya told the press that the six local residents registered their objections to the building of the apartment just to the south of the temple, claiming that the sanctity and purity of the religious site would be diminished if the project is allowed to proceed. The 3-storey apartment building, when completed, will form the backdrop for local villagers when praying at Pura Segara. The apartment is also located just to the west of a Pura Paibon, or ancestral temple for the local community.

Despite strong protests from the some members of the local community the project has continued to be built.

The Chief Parliamentarian promised that all interested parties would soon be summoned to discuss the project, probably shortly after legislative budgetary meetings scheduled for December 2007.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman for the Badung Regional Government, Putu Eka Merthawan, has responded to the protests insisting that no laws have been broken by Badung administrators or the developers of The Segara. The permits issued by the regional government, according to Merthawan, are is strict accordance with established procedures. Moreover, the original request for the project submitted on June 30, 2007 in the name of Ni Wayan Satriani included the required "no objection" statements signed by people living adjacent to the proposed apartment complex. Similar letters signed by community environment officials, the Lurah or Chief of Tanjung Benoa and the Camat or Sub-district Chief for South Kuta also reportedly formed a part of the initial building permit submission. Merthawan told the press that the project also held a written recommendation from Desa Pekrama Tanjung Benoa signed by the village Bendesa, I Nyoman Wana Putra.

Merthawan also underlined that zoning permits for the project conformed to local designated use permits as tourism accommodation meeting requirement that the final building must have a building/land ration of 60/40, that parking area must comprise 20% of the total land use and the maximum height of the final building heights must not exceed 15 meters.

Tempo Interaktif reports that the State Power Board (PLN) have asked the people of Bali not to engage in their favorite pastime of kite flying during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) set to take place in Nusa Dua from December 3-14, 2007.

PLN officials told the press that they have forwarded their request to village chiefs across the island because they are worried that kites may interfere with the electrical distribution system.

The extremely large kites flown by many village associations are often held aloft by wires that when they accidentally come in contact with high voltage lines can act as conductors causing short circuits.

The General Manager of PLN Bali, Budiman Bachrulhayat said that if the delegates attending the major conference in Bali suffer even "a moment's power outage, it could embarrass the entire nation." A meeting among PLN workers held in the week leading up to conference saw all the managers of PLN in Bali sign a declaration proclaiming their commitment to keep the lights on during the UN Climate Change Conference.

Related Story

[One Week and Counting - UN Climate Change Conference in Bali]

[7,000 Troops on Standby to Secure Climate Change Conference]

[Clouds Over the Bali Climate Change Conference]

[Bali to Host U.N. Climate Change Conference]

[Dec. Climate Change Conference - Book Your Hotel Now!]

[Climate Change Conference to cost US$12 Million]

[Reducing Bali's Carbon Footprint]

[How to Jettison a Jet]

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