Stopping the Klungkung Land Grab: Bali

Land is at a premium in the tourist areas and the further hotels and other facilities for tourists are built then the cost of land will rise. Bali is slowly but surely being 'eaten up' by developers.

But it is not only the island of Bali. The outer islands are under threat of a land grab also. The Central Government has called on Klungkung's Regent to stop the land grab on Bali's neighboring Islands at Nusa Penida according to an article in the Bali Discovery.

An official from the Directorate General of Fisheries and Oceans has called on Klungkung Regent Wayan Candra to retain local control over the three islands that compose the Nusa Penida group - Nusa Penida Besar, Lembongan and Ceningan.

Dr. I Alex S.W. Retrauban, the Director for Utilization of Small Island from the Directorate General has warned Bali that local people will be physically and economically displaced if the Regional Government fails to protect property rights on the three islands. Retrauban said that the potential of the three islands demands that government take control of the land providing access to investors on a lease-only basis.

Responding to the suggestions made by Retrauban, Klungkung's Regent insisted that anticipative steps are in place with his government exercising selective discretion in deciding which investors are granted development permits on the three islands.

The three islands of Nusa Penida located close to the eastern shore of Bali comprise two-thirds of the total land area in the Klungkung Regency.