THE HISTORY OF LOVINA
The story of Lovina and PTGU goes on. It is still
fresh in my mind what Lovina looked like many years
ago. It was a string of fishing villages encompassing
from the village of Pemaron up to Temukus. The
peaceful atmosphere and calm sea fringed with palm
trees, black sandy beaches had attracted a few young
adventurous travellers to visit this beach. That was
the dawn of Lovina. Making the story short, then
pioneered by the late Anak Agung Panji Tisna, who
built small bungalows in the area, which then the area
named �Lovina�, has been transformed from sleeping
fishing villages into one of several tourist
designated development areas in Bali. Officially it is
called �Kalibukbuk Tourist Resort�, enshrined into the
Bali�s Regulation ( Perda ) No. 4/1999. The regulation
clearly stipulates that this area has been allocated
for the provision of tourist facilities such as
hotels, restaurants, etc. It is still possible to
develop other facilities as long as it is not against
the tourism development. The construction of
industries is clear breach of this regulation.
In the course of time, in tandem with the
increasing tourists and travellers visiting this area,
tourist facilities have been mushrooming. The beach is
currently dotted with all kind of tourist facilities
from small backpackers hostel up to star rated fancy
hotels. The standard of living of the people are
steadily increasing. The result of surveys show that
the primary tourist attractions of the area among
others are : peaceful atmosphere, calm sea, crystal
clear seawater, snorkelling and diving mecca and the
second of none sunset.
Then out of the blue, a shocking news came up. The
Buleleng Local Government has approved for the
construction of a steam and gas generated power plant
located in the village of Pemaron. For the local
people who have made living from tourism sector in
Lovina, this plan is a disaster, a second bomb after
the Bali bombing blast in Legian on October 12, 2002.
The plan of shipping the heavy oil into the oil
storage from ships or tankers would certainly pollute
the sea water. The smoke billows from the high
chimneys would certainly pollute the air. This kind of
development is clearly violation of the decree of the
Bali�s Governor or the Perda No. 4/1999. The Bupati
who has approved this project argued that Lovina is �a
mix of tourist resort� and as such it is allowed to
built a power plant. What very bizarre was the
statement made by the Director of Bali�s Tourism
Authority, Mr. Pitana, at a meeting in DPRD Bali that
electric power was needed by tourism. He fell short of
saying :�whether the construction of power plant in
Tourist Resort ( Kawasan Wisata ) is in line with the
regulation or not�. In spite of wide protests from all
walk of life, the authority in Buleleng as well in
Bali turn blind eyes to the wide protests and it is
likely that the project will go ahead.
In this situation I try my best to contemplate.
What Lovina looks like in the future? Tourists
visiting Lovina will be greeted by a huge complex of
PLTGU, high rise chimneys, smoke billowing into the
sky. Seeing the smoke those who are suffering asthma
will suffocate, out of breath. The surface of the sea
will be blanketed with oil, there will be no dolphins.
Children will no longer roaming the beach selling
souvenirs or Coca Cola. They will be collecting the
spilt over oil and sell it for cooking. Gradually but
certainly, Lovina will be HOSTORY. We will tell our
off springs that in the old days there was a tourist
resort called Lovina. That is the price we have to pay
for the sake of modernization and those who have the
authority to authorize this project to go ahead are
deserved to be called �the fathers of modernization�.
They might have saved us from darkness.
Take it easy friends. Have fun.
Dwi
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