Bali drowning in sewage and 'slowly committing suicide', says Time magazine
By Kate Midena
Bali's waste problem is clear in this image taken on April 7 2011, on popular Kuta beach. Picture: AFP / Sonny Tumbelaka
More rubbish heaps on Kuta beach. Picture: AFP / Sonny Tumbelaka
- Bali's hygeine standards attacked
- Rubbish, sewage major problem on beaches
- Tourism chiefs admit they have a problem
ONE of Australia's favourite holiday destinations has been slammed as a sewage-ridden waste-ground that is "slowly committing suicide".
Bali tourism chiefs are reeling after Time magazine attacked the island's hygiene standards and claimed that the beaches were a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria.
Tourists had even been warned that swimming at Kuta Beach for more than 30 minutes could cause skin infections.
Under the headline "Holidays in Hell: Bali's Ongoing Woes", Time said that during monsoon season rivers flush sewage into the sea and the water "turns muddy with dead plankton".
"Water shortages, rolling blackouts, uncollected trash, overflowing sewage-treatment plants and traffic so bad that parts of the island resemble Indonesia's gridlocked capital Jakarta," the report says.
One local journalist told the magazine that "it's like Bali is slowly committing suicide".
Bali tourism chief Ida Bagus Subhiksu admitted the island had a waste problem but claimed that much of the rubbish on the beaches was from other islands.
He told AFP that up to 300 garbage trucks a day collected rubbish in Kuta.
"In Kuta, there will be more garbage trucks designated for the area as extra funding for waste management there has been approved," he said.
Despite the growing concerns over Bali's cleanliness, visitor numbers are growing – AFP
reports that 2.3 million foreign tourists came last year and 2.5 million are expected this year.
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