Viral videos shared on social media have highlighted the severity of Bali’s waste management crisis.
Gary Bencheghib, co-founder of environmental organisation Sungai Watch, posted a video of a 50m high illegal landfill site on the island, which he discovered by following the trail of a river filled with plastic.
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“We’ve just made it here right at the foot of this giant illegal landfill,” Bencheghib said.
“Literally, it’s so high you can’t even see the top, and it falls right into the river.”
Bencheghib said the landfill pile is one of many located around Bali.
In a previous video, Bencheghib was on the Tabanan coastline on the western side of the island helping to clean up over 200 tonnes of plastic and debris which had washed up on shore.
“Over 200 tonnes of debris have washed up on the Tabanan coastline after big rains last week,” he wrote
“We have never seen trash season come in so early in July.”
Sungai Watch, which Bencheghib founded in 2020 with his two siblings, removed over 500,000kg of waste from rivers and oceans in Bali in 2022.
Last month, the Balinese government announced a new tourist tax of IDR 150,000 ($A15) for every traveller who visits the island from next year.
As reported by the Bali Sun, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said he wants to see the tax revenue spent on fixing Bali’s rubbish problem, which he said has become “uncontrollable”.
“I think it (tourism tax) is good for Bali, why not use it to look after its waste,” he said.
“Garbage must be cleaned, now there is a smell. I spoke to the Mayor of Denpasar to fix it …. it’s not good, just fix it and reduce the smell.”
Last month governor Wayan Koster said the new fee would go towards improving Bali’s culture, environment and infrastructure so that “travelling to Bali will be more comfortable and safe”.
Domestic Indonesian tourists will be exempt from the tax.
In a crackdown on tourists behaving badly, Bali authorities have also recently announced the launch of a task force which will issue fines and even deport any troublesome travellers.
Those living on the island have been urged to use a new hotline to report foreign nationals witnessed either breaking the law or disrespecting cultural norms.
The new body was a request from immigration director general, Silmy Karim.
“We hope that with the formation of the Bali Becik Task Force, the level of violations of laws and norms by foreigners in Bali will decrease,” Karim told local reporters.
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