Friday, October 2
Govt confirms 532 businesses closed & 50,000 jobs lost in Badung alone + Vaccination training for health workers underway + "Secure Corridor" agreement inked w/South Korea for tourism flights + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Friday, October 2. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up here to get this update delivered directly to your Inbox every Monday-Saturday morning, along with each evening’s Covid-19 update. If you are already a subscriber, thank you! Please be sure to share it with others in the foreigner community on the island by clicking the button below.
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Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook
Weather forecast from Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Surf outlook via Windy.com.
Local Covid Numbers
*NOTE: Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers + trendlines in our evening update.
The Big News
"The Covid-19 Pandemic Doesn't Stop, 532 Companies in Badung Close" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Head of the Badung Industry and Manpower Office, Ida Bagus Oka Dirga, confirmed that he had recorded 532 companies engaged in the tourism sector such as hotels, villas and restaurants are no longer operating as of July 2020. 42,409 people have been sent home [furloughed], while 1,551 people were immediately laid off. (Ed. Note: Another report offered more context, showing that the job losses have continued to pile up since July, with 3,327 more people being furloughed in August and just under 400 additional layoffs through September. You can find that update here.)
"Vaccination to Be Prioritized for Workers in 18-59 Age Bracket" from Antara: "Priority will be given to frontline healthcare workers for administering vaccines. Next, vaccination will also be given to people in the high-risk category, specifically workers in the age group of 18 to 59 years," Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto noted. The minister estimated that the country will require some 320 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine... Since Monday (Sept 28), training has been conducted for health workers on the procedures for this COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, two community health centers (Puskesmas) have been prepared to conduct vaccination simulation: the Abiansemal Puskesmas in Badung District, Denpasar and the Tanah Sereal Puskesmas in Bogor City, West Java.
"There Will Be A Special Flight for Korean-Bali Tourists" from CNBC Indonesia (Indonesian): President Director of PT Angkasa Pura I, Faik Fahmi, explained that this program is called the Safe Corridor Initiative (SCI). The program is a form of bilateral cooperation between the two countries through Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport and Incheon Airport. Angkasa Pura I Business Development Director Dendi T. Danianto added that through this program, tourist movements are closely monitored. This means that prospective passengers must be recorded from the time they leave the house until they return home... Currently, preparations for the realization of the program are already underway. Next week it is said that representatives from Incheon Airport will come to Bali to conduct an assessment. It is planned that this program will be launched at the end of October 2020. However, his party is also waiting for approval from the government regarding entry permits for foreign citizens.
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Other Headlines
"Canadian Man Found Dead in Bali Villa, Police Say No Signs of Violence" from Coconuts: According to reports, the death of the foreigner, identified as SG, only came to light after villa staff entered his room to clean up. The staff found SG seemingly lifeless while lying on his bed, after which they reported the matter to the North Kuta sub-precinct. Police spokesman Ketut Gede Oka Bawa said there were no visible signs of abuse on SG’s body, and the body was immediately taken to Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar to determine his cause of death.
"Bali Police Use Water Cannon to Disband Jerinx-Supporting Demonstration" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): Supporters of I Gede Ary Astina, more commonly known as the musician Jerinx, continued to hold demonstrations during the trial for the musician. On Thursday, hundreds of Jerinx supporters initially held an action at the Denpasar District Court. However, because it was full of police vehicles, they turned towards the Army Hospital, which is 100 meters from Denpasar District Court. Seeing the crowd moving the location of the action, the police deployed a water cannon and barracuda at the Denpasar District Court to disperse the action.
"Unscrupulous Member of Gianyar Council Caught Without Mask" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): An operation to enforce Covid-19 health protocols was held on Jalan Raya Blahbatuh, Gianyar, on Thursday. A total of 19 motorcyclists and cars were caught not wearing masks. One of them is Ni Nyoman Etty Yuliastuti, a member of the Gianyar regional legislature (DPRD)... The joint team of TNI / Polri, Satpol PP and the Gianyar Regency Transportation Office saw that Etty was not wearing a mask while driving. As soon as she got out of the car, Etty immediately put on the mask she had brought. Etty admitted to the officers that she still carried a mask and obeyed health protocols. It's just that, the mask is removed briefly because it is in a position to drive itself with the AC on.
"Foreign Tourist Arrivals in Indonesia Increase Slightly in August" from Antara: The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia in August reached 164,970, or rose by 4.45%, as compared to 159,800 in July, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS). "It increased slightly from that in the previous month. The foreign tourists arrived for business- and work-related matters and not for leisure," Head of BPS Suhariyanto stated. However, the number of foreign tourist visits in August dropped drastically [from the same time last year]- by 89.22%. The total number of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia during the January-August period, reached 3.4 million, a 68.17% decrease, from 10.71 million visits during the corresponding period last year.
"Gilimanuk Toll Road Work to Begin Q4 2021" from Bali Discovery: The next phase to connect Denpasar and Gilimanuk with a toll road is ready for the bidding process. Bali’s second toll road will cover 95.51 kilometers between the Bali’s western port of Gilimanuk and Mengwi on the outskirts of the Island’s capital of Denpasar. Like the first toll road in Bali that now connects Sanur-Bali’s Airport-Nusa Dua, the new toll road includes plans for a separate lane reserved exclusively for the use of motorcycles. The bidding process will be based on a private sector cooperation scheme with the Government (KPBU).
"With A Modified Interior, GoWes Bus is Ready to Transport Bicycles and Riders" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): Seeing the increasing trend of bicycle users in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and taking advantage of idle tourist buses that are not used, a 40-seat tourism bus has been modified by Iqbal Marecar to reduce seat capacity from 40 to 16 and use the rear to place bicycle brackets that can fit 16 bicycles. The modified bus has been dubbed GoWes Bus... The GoWes Bus target market itself is cyclists, where Iqbal Marecar himself is also in one of the bicycle communities. The GoWes Bus fleet now only has one unit, it will add one more fleet in the future to meet the needs of cyclists who are currently trending in various circles.
"BP2MI: The Number of Migrant Worker Departures Decreases by 98%" from Antara (Indonesian): Head of the Preparation and Placement Section at the local Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI), Ony Irawan, said that for August there were three Indonesina migant workers (PMI) people who were sent to Poland, as spa therapists, then in September 2020 there were eight people who had departed as spa therapists. Five of them were sent to Poland, one person to Turkey and two people to the Maldive. "During COVID-19, only 11 people have been deployed until this September. The decline was also caused by the temporary suspension of PMI's departure," he said. According to BP2MI data, from January to March 2020, 640 people were dispatched. Then, from April to July, PMI's departure was temporarily suspended. From August to September 2020, 11 people were dispatched.
How You Can Help
In response to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali and the resulting economic crisis, dozens of individuals and organizations have sprung into action, raising funds and distributing badly needed food and everyday essentials to the innumerable families who have suddenly found themselves without any source of income. We've been making an effort to document and raise awareness of these efforts. We will add information on projects in this space as we are able to confirm them. If you'd like to see a list of the efforts that we've featured so far and contribute to them with either time or money, visit our complete list here. You can also see a list of projects that have registered themselves at BaliSolidarity.org. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
About This Newsletter
This newsletter is a product of Migration Media, the hub for stories from and about the international migrant experience.
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