Saturday, August 15
Buleleng's cases double in 1 month + Klungkung planning for in-person schooling after parents complain + Sirens to sound island-wide on Monday + Few hotels submit health certification plans + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Saturday, August 15. 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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PUBLICATION ALERT: As usual, there will be no morning news update tomorrow, Sunday. I will also go dark for Indonesia’s Independence Day holiday on Monday, so the next news update will be sent out on Tuesday morning. However, the evening Covid-19 numbers alert will go out each day as normal. Have a safe & enjoyable holiday weekend!
Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook (animation shows changes from 8:00am - 6:00pm)
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 complete breakdown of yesterday’s numbers + trendlines in our evening update.
The Big News
"ALERT! As 'New Normal' Arrives, Covid-19 Cases in Buleleng Soar Sharply" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): In the month since the new normal life order was implemented, cases had doubled. When the new life order was implemented on July 9, the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in Buleleng was 103 cases. But on Thursday, the Covid-19 cases in Buleleng had reached 220 cases... Of the 68 people being treated, 9 were treated at the Pratama Giri Emas Hospital, one was treated at the Bali Med Singaraja Hospital, 23 people were treated at Buleleng Hospital, one was treated at the KDH BROS Singaraja Hospital, and 34 others underwent independent isolation.
"Following Community Complaints About Cost of Studying Online, Klungkung Disdik Prepares for Face-to-face Learning" from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): Head of Klungkung's Education Office (Disdik), Dewa Gede Darmawan, explained that he has received many complaints regarding the application of online learning. Even some schools in Klungkung have also verbally asked to reintroduce face-to-face learning. "Today I've been summoned by the Regent, who has directed me to prepare a face-to-face learning system again," he said... "This week I am collecting reports on school readiness if I re-apply the face-to-face learning system. This will be continued with the coordination of the Task Force. The regent will later make a decision as to what kind of decision will be," he continued. Most of the members of the Klungkung DPRD have encouraged Disdik to return to face-to-face education, but still with strict health protocols that students and parents must follow.
"All Villages in Bali Are Asked to Sound Sirens During the 17 August Ceremony" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): Regional Secretary of Bali Province, Dewa Made Indra, has declared that all citizens are asked to participate in the commemoration of the proclamation of 17 August by pausing the activity and standing firmly in a perfect manner on Monday, 17 August 2020 for 3 minutes starting from 11:17-11:20 local time. In addition, both the TNI, Polri, and Regency / City Governments throughout Bali were asked to sound sirens together on August 17 for 3 minutes from 11:17-11.20 local time.
Other Headlines
"Hundreds of Hotels and Restaurants in Klungkung Have Not Been Certified" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): Only a few dozen tourist attraction objects and tourism accommodations in Klungkung Regency have received a new era life order protocol certificate. The reason is that hundreds of tourist accommodations in Gumi Serombotan have not yet processed the certification because they are not authorized to do so. Especially the operational permit. Even though that is one of the requirements to be able to participate in verification... Plt. Head of the Klungkung Regency Tourism Office, Ida Bagus Mas Ananda, said that there were 490 inns, 348 restaurants, and a number of tourist sites in Klungkung Regency. In connection with the new era life order protocol certificate as a guarantee that the tourism industry is ready to implement the health protocol, according to him, only 3 tourist sites, and 50 hotels and restaurants have this certificate.
"Only 5 Hotels [in Denpasar] Apply for Health Protocol Certification" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Head of Denpasar City Administration, MA Dezire Mulyani, revealed that since hotel certification was implemented, registrations were still minimal compared to the number of hotels in Denpasar City. This, he said, proves that many hotels in Denpasar have not implemented health protocols to maintain the health of tourists who come to hotels who have not applied for certification. "Currently, only five hotels have submitted applications and only four hotels have been reviewed by the team, and it was found that there are still several documents that need to be completed," said Dezire.
"Ignoring Health Protocols, Balinese Residents Are Willing to Queue to Wait for the Disbursement of Social Assistance" from iNews Bali (Indonesian): Hundreds of residents from a number of villages in Abiansemal District have crowded into the sub-district office since 7 am. The crowd is concentrated in front of the counter for BST collection which is disbursed through a savings account. This was not anticipated by the kecamatan... Abiansemal sub-district head, Ida Bagus Putu Mas Arimbawa said Satpol PP officers had been deployed to remind residents who were gathered to wait for the BST disbursement. However, the officers' efforts still failed to convince residents to keep their distance. A number of Satpol PP officers actually look overwhelmed even though they repeatedly urge residents to keep their distance to prevent Covid-19 transmission.
"Pocong Used in Demonstration Against Omnibus Law in Bali" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): a group called Bali Not Silent held a demonstration involving students, laborers and community components in Renon, Denpasar on Friday afternoon. A spokesman for the action to reject the Ombibus Law Bill, Abror Torik Tanjilla, said the pocong [mock dead body] was a symbol of the death of a democracy, where people's voices were ignored in the Ombibus Law of the Work Creation Bill... According to the protesters, if this legal product is passed, there will be no more decentralization of power to the regions, no more optimal environmental protection, because the Omnibus Law Bill is actually an attempt to completely change the face of post-Reform Indonesia democracy. the workers will be increasingly miserable because this Omnibus Law carries a mission of low wages and labor flexibility.
"Fake Mask Seller Sentenced to 20 Months" from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Ali Solikin, 34, who was accused of fraud by selling cheap masks online was finally sentenced to 20 months in prison by the Denpasar District Court panel of judges on Thursday. Defendant Solikin was proven to have committed fraud in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic by sending used pillows, bolsters and jeans to victims who had paid for the purchase of masks... Solikin, who did not have any masks, was contacted by one of the buyers who saw an ad on an online buying and selling website. The witness then made the mask transaction through the massenger. Ali then offered to sell Sensi brand masks for Rp. 320,000/box and Diapro masks for Rp. 285,000/box. But what came instead of masks was used pillows, bolsters, and jeans. As a result of the defendant's actions, the victim suffered a loss of Rp. 3.6 million.
"Indonesia Sets Aside Rp3.8 trillion to Revive Tourism Sector" from Antara: The Indonesian government will allocate Rp3.8 trillion in its budget to revive the tourism sector through granting of several incentives to tourism operators in the country. The incentives include subsidy and income tax allowance, deputy I to the presidential staff, Febry Calvin Tetelepta, said... The government's seriousness in handling the COVID-19 pandemic has sent a positive signal and helped in building prospective tourists' confidence, he said. Another step taken towards reviving the sector has been the reopening of Bali for tourism in stages, starting July this year. Other tourist destinations, including those in Bintan Island, Bangka Nelitung province, and Banyuwangi district in East Java will also be reopened soon. "Of course, they will be reopened through simulation and stringent preparations," Febry said.
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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We only include news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
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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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