North Bali Airport – Local Resistance Grows

north bali airportRadar Bali reports that residents of Sumberklampok Village, Gerokgak, in and Buleleng Regency, North Bali, are becoming increasingly vocal in their opposition to the construction of Bali’s second international airport in their community.

Along the main east-west roadway across Bali’s northern shoreline, the people of Sumberbalok supposedly installed banners protesting the proposed airport construction. Ten banners measuring 1 x 0.5 meters and four more banners measuring 1.5 x 4 meters now adorn the shoulder of Jalan Raya Singaraja-Gilimanuk. There are several additional banners displayed in residential areas just off the main highway.

All the banners may have been produced from a single source, bearing similar colors and fonts with an almost uniform message in Indonesian stating, “We, the people of the Village of Sumberklampok – We live and die on this land. Don’t rob us of our rights.” Another banner proclaims: “We, the people of the Village of Sumberklampok, demand an end to plans to build an airport on our land – the land we have worked for generations. Enact Presidential Regulation Number 86 of 2018 on Agrarian Land Reform. Land is for the people, not for investors.”

The Chairman of “Team 9” set up to resolve the land dispute in the Village of Sumberklampok,” Putu Artana, has confirmed the sudden installation of the protest banners. Artana told Radar Bali, he does not know who installed the banners. He insisted that the banners were not put in place by Team 9, speculating that volunteers or interested members of the general public members may have installed the roadside messages.

North Bali Airport