March 7, 2022
Bali's VOA and quarantine-free trial starts Monday + New visa pricing announced, details in April + Ogoh-Ogoh shows its charm, raises hopes for businesses to make room for Balinese artists + more
Good morning!
Welcome to The Bali Beat for Monday, March 7. In today’s edition, an early start to Bali’s no quarantine trial and restarting of the Visa on Arrival is announced. This follows on from news late last week of new visa prices (with further details to come). Bali’s Ogoh-Ogoh parade went off without a hitch and has raised hopes of Balinese artists getting more support from businesses in Bali to showcase their work. Scroll down for the full wrap on what has been happening in Bali and Indonesia since you last heard from us.
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Weather & Tides
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Daily Covid Update
National Figures
Local Figures
Note: Bali’s average daily cases have been dropping since the peak of 2,556 on February 8. Deaths are lagging behind the drop in daily cases, with daily deaths remaining in two figures for in excess of the last ten days (with the exception of March 2).
The Big News
“Bali's No-Quarantine Trial and VOA to Start Monday, A Week Earlier Than Planned” from The Jakarta Globe: Bali will begin a trial allowing foreigners to enter the island without Covid-19 quarantine on Monday, a week earlier than the original plan, Bali Governor Wayan Koster announced late on Friday. Foreigners from ASEAN countries, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, South Korea, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, will also be allowed to apply for a visa on arrival in Bali, Koster said. Koster said the island would welcome all foreigners who had received two doses of vaccine, a negative result of PCR test taken before the departure, and proof of a minimum four-day hotel booking in Bali. The foreigners must also take an obligatory PCR test upon arrival and wait at their hotel for the test result. On the third day, foreign tourists must take another PCR swab test. If the test result is negative, they can travel outside Bali on the fourth day, Koster said.
Context: The quarantine and Visa on Arrival announcement from Governor Koster received extensive media coverage over the weekend. A government circular supporting the VOA portion has apparently been released, but as at the time of press, the immigration website was down—you can though see some brief details on their official Instagram page here. In related news, the Governor has stated a further number of airlines are to commence flights to Bali — see the Bali Reopening section below for details.
“New Visa Pricing Announced, More Details Expected in April” from Indonesia Expat: The Finance Ministry has released a list of new visa prices ahead of an eagerly anticipated announcement on a new visa regime. The information is not yet fully confirmed and will need to be confirmed with an announcement from the Immigration Department. The pricing information comes without definitions of conditions attached. There are changes to retirement visas, tourist visas, and other long visit visas in terms of both the length of stay and how much a visitor will pay. Social media and messaging apps were ablaze with speculation yesterday about what a “second home” visa would mean and what rules would be attached to a new 180-day visa. Details are expected by 16th April 2022 from the Law and Human Rights Ministry.
Context: See the full story for a detailed breakdown on the suggested prices and validities for the various visas. Official government confirmation of the details is yet to be announced.
“Ogoh-Ogoh Successfully Shows Its Charm, Lolak: SOEs Must Make Room for Balinese Artists” from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): The implementation of pangerupukan night on Bali on Wednesday invited admiration. Ogoh-ogoh who for two years could not show creations were able to amaze viewers. "Amazing, although the work time was tight, it does not hinder the ogoh-ogoh creations displayed, especially in Denpasar City, really stunning," praised I Kadek Arimbawa, Chairman of the Bali Artists Foundation, on Saturday. The artist who is familiarly called Lolak asserts that ogoh-ogoh with his various creations, including the use of environmentally friendly materials in the form of charcoal batok and masks from ogoh-ogoh by ST Tunas Muda, Banjar Dukuh Mertajati Sidakarya, Denpasar, deserves appreciation. "The concept of young people in implementing their artwork is very good. This proves Bali is a storehouse of artistic talent, and will not die," Lolak said. On that basis, Lolak hopes that artists in Bali get more space. "Not limited to the performance of pangerupukan, but more than that can fill the expression space in various SOEs in Bali," he said.
Context: In related news, garbage collection in Denpasar was up 150 tons after Nyepi (Indonesian).
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The Movement of Recovery (Yayasan Pergerakan Pemulihan) is one of the main drivers of mental health services in Bali. Together with BBB Community, they launched LISA (Love Inside Suicide Awareness), a helpline which offers support in Bahasa Indonesian and English. They offer free counselling and support for those in need. For more information, please visit their website here.
Want to share your message with the most engaged members of the foreigner community in Bali? Click here to learn how to place a classified ad.
Other Headline
“Tourists Head to Gili Islands Over Nyepi” from Antara: At least 1,600 foreign tourists from Bali flocked to the Gili Islands the local hotel association reported on Thursday. Tourists started pouring into the Gili Islands as activities in Bali have come to a standstill on account of the Day of Silence on Thursday. Gili Hotels Association Head Lalu Kusnawan said that the foreign tourists from Bali are coming to Gili Meno, Gili Air, and Gili Trawangan using speedboats. "The foreign tourists began arriving at Gili Matra three days before the Day of Silence, and the number peaked on Wednesday,” Kusnawan said on Thursday. Of the 1,600 foreign tourists, a thousand spent their holiday at Gili Trawangan, while the rest headed to Gili Meno or Gili Air, he said. Most of the tourists will spend at least three to five days at the three small islands while Hindu residents in Bali suspend activities to observe the Day of Silence and will return to Bali after activities return to normal, he said.
Vaccination Update
“Government Extends Shelf-life, Ramps Up Inoculation to Prevent Waste of Vaccines” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): Authorities have moved to ramp up the national vaccination drive and extend the shelf life of some COVID-19 vaccine brands in a bid to prevent millions of near-expired vaccines from being unusable. The move came after Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in February that as many as 18 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, most of which were donated to Indonesia from other countries, could expire at the end of that month.
More...
Nation: “Indonesia Expects to Vaccinate Entire Target Population This Month” from Antara
Nation: “11.94 Million Indonesians Received Third Dose of Covid-19 Vaccine” from Antara
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Good News, Isoter Places in Denpasar Are Starting to Empty” from iNews Bali (Indonesian): All centralized isolation places in Denpasar have began to empty. This is in line with the outbreak of Covid-19 cases on Bali. "All Isoter facilities in four places are empty," said a spokesman for task force Covid-19 Denpasar, I Dewa Gede Rai, on Sunday. The four isoter places are hotels on Jalan Pantai Sindu Sanur and Jalan Danau Tamblingan Sanur, hotels on Jalan Veteran Denpasar and Bapelkesmas Denpasar. The facilities available in the four isoter places amount to 239 beds. "Since the Omicron variant in late January, the four isoters have been filled with patients with mild symptoms," he said. "Cases continue to show a downward trend," he said. Although it is empty, he said, Isoter has not been closed because it sees the development of the case after the ogoh-ogoh call during Nyepi. "Hopefully there will be no spike in cases," he said.
More...
Nation: “Threat of ‘Long Covid' in Children Looms Large” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall)
Nation: “Pandemic Brings Lesson on Vaccine Independence” from Antara
Economy & Infrastructure
“SOEs to Build Solar Plant Along Bali Mandara Toll Road” from Antara: PT Bukit Asam and PT Jasa Marga will build a solar power plant along the Bali Mandara Toll Road to support Indonesia's G20 Presidency in 2022 and the efforts to reduce global carbon emissions. Business Director of Jasa Marga, Reza Febriano, said that the Bali Mandara Toll Road, as one of the infrastructures that will support the 2022 G20 Presidency, has grown increasingly environment-friendly with the construction of the solar power plant to source the energy for operational needs of this toll road. "Reducing global carbon emissions, which was one of the focuses of Indonesia's G20 Presidency, is our concern and commitment," Febriano said on Saturday.
More...
Nation: “No Cooking Oil Cartels Detected So Far Say Police” from Antara
Nation: “Tourism Ministry Starts Carbon Program to Build Public Trust” from Antara
Nation: “MotoGP Tourists Booked Mataram's 80% Non-star Rated Hotels” from Antara
Nation: “Airasia Launches Financial Marketplace in Indonesia” from Tech In Asia
Nation: “SMEs Minister Encourages Indonesian Consumers to Buy Domestic Products” from Tempo
Bali Reopening
“Governor Koster Says 11 International Flights Will Fly to Bali” from Suara Bali (Indonesian): The arrival of foreign tourists (PPLN) in Bali was welcomed by Bali Governor Wayan Koster along with a number of important officials in the Bali Provincial Government at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, on Friday. The PPLN that came yesterday amounted to 60 people from Sydney, Australia. According to the Governor of Bali, to date there have been 11 flights that will depart for Bali, including Garuda Indonesia, SQ / Singapore Airlines, Scoot Tiger Air, Jet Air, Air Asia, Batik Air, Jetstar, Turkish Airlines and others. "I need to convey that from the results of passengers who came from February 16 to February 28, the number has reached 1,846 people. Of these, only 7 people were positive and all without symptoms," he said.
More...
“Three International Airlines Land at Bali Airport” from Antara
“First Flight From Australia to Bali Touches Down” from The Sydney Morning Herald (Metered Paywall)
Of Interest
“Rebels in Papua Province Shoot Dead 8” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall)
“‘Wayang Kulit’ Demonstrates Indonesia’s Resilient Culture” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall)
“When Sandal Trash on Bali Beach Is Transformed Into Art” from CNN Indonesia (Indonesian)
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How You Can Help Bali
Due to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali, tens of thousands of families have found themselves with a greatly reduced income—if any. If you’d like to support organizations working to help those in need, you can see a list of some here.
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