In Reply to: Is Bali Changing For The Better posted by tigress on Saturday, 25. October 2014 at 15:39 Bali Time:
A main problem is the loss of rice fields to developers.
One can sympathise with the farmer who sees the quick buck and no working in the fields all day.
However, this is impacting heavily for many different reasons.
Development is rampant, but improvements to infrastructure is not keeping pace.
Electricity is stretched and load sharing is not uncommon and water supplies are insufficient.
Currently water is being carted into areas at high cost.
Bores are drying out and the piped water supplies are insufficient.
A hotel uses a huge amount of these services daily compared to local consumption.
Perhaps there is a levy on developers to improve some of these services, but how any such funds are managed is totally a different thing!
Who is responsible?
Most people involved in tourism.
The tourists for demanding more and the locals for "selling the farm" either literally or figuratively.
Of course "locals" includes many non Balinese Indonesians who are also milking Bali for all it's worth.
Health services and hygiene issues will improve as Bali continues with the growing pains of this transition.
Perhaps the situation is self solving as many tourists abandon Bali for other destinations that resemble the Bali of yesterday.
Empty hotel rooms use less services than full ones.
Only time will tell the full story, but one feels that to address the "slide" strong and decisive local management will be needed.
Whether the local Governments and individuals have the necessary morals, determination and skills is regrettably doubtful indeed.