Monday, September 7
Fines for not wearing masks start today; Rp.100k for people & Rp.1 mil for businesses; all Regencies participating & police patrols have begun + Jakarta's experience offers lessons for Bali + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Monday, September 7. 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: The country has now recorded over 3,000 new cases 4 days in a row, while Bali has seen multiple fatalities for 12 straight days, and at least four deaths for 5 days. Click here to see the complete breakdown of yesterday’s numbers + trendlines in our evening update, which includes a look back at last week’s overall totals.
The Big News
"Badung Regency Government Will Apply Discipline and Enforcement of Health Protocol Laws" from Antara (Indonesian): The Badung Regency Government, Bali, will officially implement discipline and law enforcement of health protocols as an effort to prevent and control COVID-19 starting Monday. sanctions for violating the application of health protocols in the prevention and control of COVID-19, individuals will be given verbal or written warnings, social work or administrative fines. Meanwhile, business actors, managers, organizers or persons in charge of public places or facilities are given verbal or written warnings, administrative fines, suspension of business operations and revocation of business licenses... According to Vice Regent Suiasa, the imposition of such fines is not the government's main objective. but the main goal is to make people aware of the importance of adhering to health protocols. Efforts to apply discipline and law enforcement will also prioritize preventive and persuasive actions so that people actively participate in carrying out health protocols.
(Ed. Note: All Regency & city governments on Bali have now affirmed their intentions to follow Governor Koster's orders to fine people and businesses that violate Covid-19 heath protocols. Klungkung, Tabanan, and Karangasem were the last to do so over the weekend. Tabanan City is instituting a curfew, with violators subject to a Rp. 250,000 fine. Last week, Badung Police started patrols to check for people not wearing masks, with warnings about the coming fines being issued to people in North Kuta. Buleleng Police did the same over the weekend. Wear your masks!)
"President Director of Klungkung Hospital Clarifies Lean Issues About Fees for Handling Covid -19 Cases Directed to IDI and Hospitals" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): According to Dr. Nyoman Kesuma MPH, President Director of Klungkung Hospital, there has been an impression from a handful of people that patients who have died with Covid-19 were paid handsomely by the government. In fact, some say that they have been paid Rp. 75 million, so it appears as if the hospital is trying to make the patient they treat die with Covid-19 status, because it is profitable... According to him, the official tariff for corpse review from the Ministry of Health, among other things, is for the cost of monitoring (treating and preserving) the bodies of Covid-19 patients, only Rp. 550,000. Other costs paid were the costs of other materials, so the total cost was only Rp. 3.36 million. This is much lower than the usual hospital rates, which only cost Rp. 825,000 for the application, plus the price of other materials used.
(Ed. Note: There is a widely shared & believed theory amongst the general population in Bali that Covid-19 numbers are inflated so that hospitals can earn more money. There is zero evidence of this. In fact, the lack of transparency in testing means that, if anything, the actual number of positive cases in Bali are most likely much higher than what is reported.)
"More Than 139,000 Penalized for Not Wearing Masks in Jakarta Since June" from The Jakarta Post: As of Sept. 3, the Jakarta Public Order Agency had recorded 139,201 health protocol violations in the capital and had collected Rp 2.1 billion (US$142,507) in fines. Rp 247 million in fines had been collected from business and Rp 764 million had been collected from public venues for violations of protocols during transitional PSBB. “Some 28 business establishments were closed, 38 establishments were fined and 17 received a warning,” Arifin, the agency's head, said.
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Other Headlines
"Cases Increase, Covid-19 Isolation Room in Tabanan is Almost Full" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): As of Saturday, there were an additional 12 positive cases of COVID-19 in Tabanan, six people had recovered and one person was declared dead. Although there has been an increase in cases, it is acknowledged that the medical team can still handle this increase in the number of cases... The isolation room in Tabanan also still allows to accommodate new patients, even though the number of empty rooms is actually running low. In Tabanan Hospital, there are only 4 beds left. If the number of cases continues to increase, it is feared that the medical team will be overwhelmed and there will be no more isolation rooms available to accommodate COVID-19 positive patients.
"Visits by Foreign Tourists to Bali Decrease by 99.97%" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Bali's economic growth in the first quarter of 2020 was -1.14%, while in the second quarter it declined further to -10.98%. This slow growth is due to a sharp decline in income from Bali's main sector, namely tourism. The number of foreign tourists in Bali has decreased since the start of the pandemic to 99.97% in May 2020. Deputy Governor of Bali Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati says that Bali loses around Rp. 9.7 trillion every month from the tourism sector alone. Based on data from the Bali Province Manpower and Mineral Resources Office, as of May 25, 2020, as many as 71,313 formal sector workers were laid off and 2,570 people lost their jobs.
"An Average of 3,000 Indonesian tourists Enter Bali through Ngurah Rai Airport" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): "Now as of today I say it reaches 3 thousand on average. For long weekends it can reach 5,000; for weekdays, 2,400 to 2,500," said the Head of the Bali Provincial Tourism Office , I Putu Astawa.
"Bali Oranges Now Beyond the Public’s Reach" from Bali Discovery: Widespread reduced purchasing power among local consumers in Bali is being felt by orange producers in the Rendang District of Karangasem Regency in Bali. Orange farmers now encounter difficulties in selling this year’s bountiful harvest of Highland Tangerines (Jeruk Siam Madu)... While in year’s past, farmers would sell their citrus fruits from roadside stands, at local markets, and local festivals – now, all these outlets have either disappeared or been greatly diminished. Similarly, the selling price for oranges has plummeted from Rp. 30,000 to around Rp. 20,000 per kilo.
"Cops to Face Disciplinary Hearing for Extorting Japanese Tourist in Bali" from The Jakarta Post: Police in Bali will hold a disciplinary hearing for two officers who allegedly extorted Rp 1 million (US$67.93) from a Japanese man over a minor traffic violation in 2019. Jembrana Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ketut Gede Adi Wibawa said the Bali provincial police’s internal affairs division (Propam) had launched an investigation against the two officers. “We are waiting for a disciplinary hearing. We can’t just punish them, because we have to go through the procedures,” Ketut said.
"Pertalite Consumption in Denpasar-Bali Increases 69%" from Antara (Indonesian): Bali Retail Sales Area Manager, Deny Sukendar, said that the consumption of Pertalite in Denpasar-Bali has increased by 69%, or 364 KL per day, for the two months since the Blue Sky program began. Previously, the average daily consumption of Pertalite throughout the month of June 2020 in the Denpasar area was 216 KL per day. This increase is believed to be in line with the increase in economic activity and the opening of domestic tourism that has started running in Bali Province.
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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For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. In most cases I try to polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
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