Uluwatu On Life Support As Cliff Demolition Ensues
This isn’t an obituary, yet.
Recently, we reported on the alarming CGI plans that proposed a 25-metre seawall and coastal road bordering the Pura Luhur Temple in Uluwatu.
Last week, the once-green expanse above the cliff was levelled to make way for heavy demolition machinery. This week, the situation has escalated sharply: the cliff face is being swiftly torn apart and, despite the gravity of the situation, a disturbing and seemingly enforced silence lingers over the community.
To recap: the Indonesian government announced a $5 million USD plan to protect the ancient Pura Luhur Temple, addressing a crack along the southern cliff face, while also strengthening local river systems and waterways.
The plans unveiled a nightmarish concrete fortress seemingly designed to suppress the area’s natural character, along with a coastal road encroaching on several of Uluwatu’s less-frequented surf spots — Secrets, Lurches, and Temples*. This would involve manipulating and paving the reef to achieve structural stability — a move that would inevitably impact the surrounding waves. Additionally, the section of the reef closest to the temple is said to be a critical breeding nursery for manatees and spinner sharks.
When development began, no ecological assessment had been made public, nor had authorities announced their plans until they had already started clearing the land for machinery. It wasn’t until CGI footage was released and diggers started tearing through the jungle above the cliff face — eventually reaching the waterline and making their actions visible to surfers below — that the scale of the development became clear.
So, why would the government launch an autocratic project in secret, advancing at an impressively rapid pace without consultation, in an area of immense ecological and tourism value?
Well, the answer might come in the form of a question: Into whose myth should we buy?
“We are carrying out this action as a response to an emergency situation, and we are confident that we will receive full support because this work is in the public interest,” said Rama Putra, who’s the current head of the Water Resources Department at the Badung Public Works and Spatial Planning Office.
Putra also claimed that there had been intensive coordination between numerous organisations, including the Bali Penida River Basin Office and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, in order to ensure that the project is completed smoothly with the support of various parties.
Presenting this project as a cultural emergency is a calculated strategy. Those in charge have expertly managed to keep it under the radar, suppressing dissent by framing it as vital for cultural preservation. This tactic has effectively stifled criticism, leaving those who oppose the project marginalised or silenced.
“It’s really sensitive because they’re leveraging the religious and cultural cards super hard. In this case, if you stand against the proposal, then you stand against Bali’s cultural goals,” an anonymous source told us last week.
However, cracks in this narrative are beginning to show. For one, the construction company overseeing the project isn’t even from Bali. The contract went to a firm based on a different Indonesian island.
“The project was open for a bidding tender to construction companies back in April, and they got half a dozen different companies giving them bids, including the largest construction company in Bali,” said a local source who, like everyone named in this story, has requested to remain anonymous to avoid backlash. “But they didn’t win the bid. The company that won is from an area in East Java.”
Indonesia’s political scene is complex and fluid, with politicians frequently changing allegiances in order to minimise factional splits. In 2019, President Joko Widodo unexpectedly appointed his rival, Prabowo Subianto, as defence minister following a fiercely-contested presidential race.
While technically a secular democratic republic, Java dominates Indonesian politics. Given that the nation contains the largest Muslim population in the world, Bali, being predominantly Hindu, is a clear anomaly.
While regional provinces do have some autonomy, Bali remains largely under the thumb of Jakartan elites. It’s not surprising, then, that a Javanese company is leading this development. But their success hinges on the involvement of a select-few influential figures in Bali.
“This is clearly a Jakarta-driven, corrupt tax-money swindle, and they’ve cut in three or four of the biggest moustaches in the Picatu Village to tow the line,” explained a different local source. “Those guys are making sure that the community believes this project is solely about protecting the temple and that this is the only way to do it. Nobody can question it.”
Although the community hasn’t fully erupted, the scheme is increasingly attracting attention, especially with images of massive boulders being blasted into the ocean by heavy machinery circulating online. One outspoken figure, known for lacking hair but never courage, shared the footage on his Instagram story and added:
“What is going on in Bali? Does the Government not care or is someone getting paid off?”
Slater’s probing questions seem to be on target. It’s evident that a select few individuals are being financially incentivised, and now there’s a growing concern that the wider Indonesian government might be indifferent to Bali’s sustainability.
“People often underestimate the scale of wealth among the elites in this country, especially in the mining sector. The largest mine in the world is in Indonesia, and it’s insane how advanced the operations are. They have speedboats, helicopters, planes, Western mining engineers, and thousands of workers involved,” said a local source.
“Everyone asks why the government isn’t helping Bali more. Well, there’s four million people on this island, and even though tourism makes up 80% of the economy here, there’s 270 million people in this country. Tourism is only a speck of Indonesia’s economy.”
For Bali, however, it’s a vital speck.
“The temple is the number one tourist attraction in the area. It has coastal pathways that people get to walk once they pay their entrance fee, and they have an amphitheater where they do a traditional fire dance every sunset,” said our source.
“There’s two showings of that dance every day, and they’re always sold out. On average throughout the year, they make $28,000 USD a day. In the peak season, it can be up to 40k. Add a coastal road into the equation, along with parking and access fees, and they’ve got a variety of ways to leverage this development to benefit them financially. All they have to do is use the temple and culture as a scapegoat.”
The irony is evident: although preserving the temple is widely supported, the chosen approach seems paradoxically harmful. A local source warns that the continuous use of heavy machinery on the cliff, with daily operations, risks undermining the very stability the project is claiming to protect.
Unfortunately, the window to stop the cliff’s destruction may have closed, but attention now shifts to salvaging what can still be preserved and safeguarding the temple with as little environmental disruption as possible. The planned coastal road — set to wreak havoc on marine life and disrupt the waves that define this coast — is still pending, leaving a narrow window for resistance.
Save The Waves Coalition is launching a petition to request an environmental assessment and is reaching out to scientists for a rapid evaluation. According to a civil engineer, various alternative preservation methods exist, as outlined in the graphic below.
This article has mentioned nothing of Uluwatu’s spiritual significance to the Balinese people. Ida Resi Alit, a Balinese High Priestess of Hindu Dharma, shared her unease about the development:
“In Bali, we believe in the seen and the unseen dimension. In the unseen dimension, there are beings that we call spirits, and they are our protectors. If we destroy nature, then we believe that this will give people bad luck. People will die for no reason and have a hard life. There are not only humans living in this world; there are unseen beings that we call spirits.”
Earlier today, a man was discovered dead below the temple. His identity and cause of death remain unknown. The timing has stirred quiet concern among those who hold the temple’s sanctity close.
*normally we wouldn’t name these waves, but given the circumstances, it seems frivolous to try to protect their anonymity while cliff faces are currently being detonated onto their reefs.
Bahasa Indonesia Translation:
Baru-baru ini, kami melaporkan rencana pembangunan yang mengkhawatirkan di Uluwatu: tembok laut setinggi 25 meter dan jalan di sepanjang pantai, dekat dengan Pura Luhur yang bersejarah. Minggu lalu, area hijau di atas tebing mulai diratakan untuk alat berat, dan minggu ini, kerusakan semakin parah. Tebing-tebing dihancurkan dengan cepat, tetapi komunitas tetap sunyi meskipun situasinya serius.
Pemerintah Indonesia sebelumnya mengumumkan proyek senilai 5 juta USD untuk melindungi Pura Luhur, memperbaiki retakan di tebing selatan, serta memperkuat sistem sungai dan saluran air. Namun, proyek ini menampilkan benteng beton besar yang dianggap merusak karakter alami daerah tersebut dan jalan pantai yang mendekati tempat-tempat selancar terkenal seperti Secrets, Lurches, dan Temples. Proyek ini juga melibatkan pengerasan terumbu karang yang bisa berdampak pada ombak di sekitar dan mengganggu habitat satwa laut seperti manatee dan hiu pemintal.
Pembangunan ini dimulai tanpa penilaian lingkungan yang diumumkan kepada publik. Baru setelah rekaman CGI dirilis dan alat berat mulai menghancurkan area hutan di atas tebing, masyarakat mulai menyadari skala proyek ini.
Pemerintah mengklaim proyek ini adalah respons darurat untuk melindungi Pura Luhur demi kepentingan umum. Rama Putra, Kepala Dinas Sumber Daya Air di Dinas Pekerjaan Umum dan Tata Ruang Badung, menyebutkan bahwa ada koordinasi dengan berbagai pihak, termasuk Balai Wilayah Sungai Bali Penida dan Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan, untuk memastikan proyek berjalan lancar.
Pihak berwenang menyebut ini sebagai keadaan darurat budaya, tetapi beberapa orang melihatnya sebagai cara untuk membungkam kritik. Menggunakan alasan budaya dan agama membuat siapa pun yang menentang proyek ini tampak melawan budaya Bali.
Namun, ada celah dalam narasi tersebut. Proyek ini tidak dimenangkan oleh perusahaan konstruksi lokal dari Bali, tetapi oleh perusahaan yang berbasis di Jawa Timur. Sumber lokal mengklaim bahwa ini adalah cara untuk mengamankan kepentingan pihak tertentu dan bahwa beberapa tokoh lokal di Bali telah dibujuk untuk mendukung proyek ini.
Banyak orang mulai mempertanyakan motivasi pemerintah dan pengaruh dari pihak-pihak luar Bali. Sementara itu, gambar-gambar alat berat yang menghancurkan batu ke laut mulai beredar secara online, menambah kekhawatiran masyarakat.
Meskipun proyek ini diklaim untuk melestarikan Pura Luhur, banyak yang merasa pendekatan yang digunakan justru merusak. Penggunaan alat berat bisa merusak tebing dan justru mengancam stabilitas yang ingin dilindungi.
Kini, perhatian beralih untuk meminimalkan kerusakan lebih lanjut. Rencana jalan pantai yang dapat menghancurkan terumbu karang dan mengganggu ombak masih dalam tahap perencanaan, memberi sedikit kesempatan bagi mereka yang menentang proyek ini untuk bertindak.
Save The Waves Coalition meluncurkan petisi untuk meminta penilaian lingkungan dan bekerja sama dengan ilmuwan untuk mengevaluasi situasi. Ada alternatif pelestarian lain yang mungkin lebih ramah lingkungan.
Ida Resi Alit, seorang Pendeta Hindu Dharma Bali, juga menyatakan ketidaknyamanannya terhadap pembangunan ini, mengatakan bahwa penghancuran alam dapat membawa nasib buruk bagi masyarakat Bali.
Pagi ini, seorang pria ditemukan tewas di bawah pura. Identitasnya belum diketahui, dan kematiannya telah menimbulkan kekhawatiran di kalangan masyarakat yang menghormati kesucian pura.
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