–Ahead of Indonesia national day, braver leadership is needed, with long-term thinking
–Tomorrow marks the country’s 79 years free of the shackles of former colonial masters Portugal, the Netherlands and Japan. Now it must shake the fetters of plastic waste overwhelming its coastlines … and better protect valuable tourists from safety risks
Reporting and opinion by Mathew Carr
Aug. 16, 2024 — Abdul Gani, a district leader in Golo Mori, is pleased at the prospect of investment in his area, which is struggling to shift people out of poverty near a beautiful beach just across from Komodo National Park, famous for its terrifying dragons.
The dragons attract tens of thousands of tourists a year to the nearby town of Labuan Bajo, known by some as Indonesia’s “new Bali”.
“I’m happy” if some of the money spreads its way to nearby Golo Mori, Gani said via an interpreter. He’s part of a team that’s cleared the beach of plastic rubbish, in preparation for flocks of locals who come there to relax, especially on the weekend. (We last Friday, Aug. 9.)
To the outside eye, many Indonesians have a strange habit (with respect). Instead of placing their rubbish into a bin or recycling container, they just discard it on the ground. The country of about 18,000 islands and almost 300 million people has a litter problem and it’s cultural. It’s made worse by a lack of drinkable water, so people might use 2-5 plastic bottles a day, just to hydrate.
This limits its tourism growth versus near neighbors. It’s still forecast to boom.
Growth Projections: The Travel & Tourism market in Indonesia is expected to generate a revenue of US$8.3 billion by 2024, with a projected annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2029) of 8%, leading to a market volume of US$12.1 billion by 2029. This indicates robust growth in the sector. [Grok]
Indonesia tourism & travel
https://www.statista.com/outlook/mmo/travel-tourism/indonesia#revenue
Meanwhile, I’ve seen some figures indicating Indonesia contributes about 15% of the world plastic pollution in oceans, even though it has only about 3.5% of the world population.
Ahead of Indonesia national day tomorrow outgoing leader Joko Widodo might consider how he should have done more to further Indonesia’s tourism interests by protecting it from litter and by enforcing laws that protect tourists and workers from reckless (?) tour operators and questionable management of dangerous Komodo dragons. See below.
(Gani; photo by CarrZee — I swam in the sea in the background of this scene and you see silver fish immediately upon entering the water, Dugong [or something] playing in the water meters from shore)
Gani is part of a program trying to develop a way of helping …with an aim to make some money from all that litter at least to the point of breaking even. You can see the yellow collection sack at the left of his feet, above.
Litter
The project is grappling with ways to collect the rubbish, sort it and send it for recycling. One of the challenges is to provide enough bins and containers for locals and tourists to use, making collection more cost efficient.
The collected water bottles need the labels removed and the sorting is done by locals who get paid 75,000 Indonesian rupiah per day (about £4 or $5.15).
Pictured below are Siti Amina, one of the sorters (who’s holding baby Salvya Yumna Khalifah) and standing next to Sukrin. The matriarch Khadijah was sitting upstairs with the cat.
Photos: CarrZee
Making the new recycling program work on a permanent basis will be no small feat. Already the area collects a couple of hundred of kilograms of waste a month (including compostibles processed for free for local organic farmers as well as paper and cardboard).
To make it into a going concern about 2 tons a month is needed …the equivalent of two elephants (see below).
(In the photo immediately above …the bottom 33% in the pie chart should read 3%)
The plastic needs to be compressed and shipped to a different island (East Java) for processing (that’s a journey across land and sea of about 1,000 kms or 620 miles), boosting costs. So … the many fine people involved in the program say it will take a lot of hard work to make it work financially. Government support would be nice, even if litter is not as sexy as shifting the capital city to a new location).
Pre-national day note to Widodo and President-elect Prabowo Subianto: developing water treatment plants and pipes and recycling facilities on thousands of islands to provide drinkable water quality and a clean environment will pay off because there’ll be less plastic waste and more tourists. Education about litter is urgently needed to change the culture.
One person on my travels not mentioned here told me the government is too focused on Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara (Parts of Jakarta is sinking 5 cm a year – again partly because the government is not properly providing a clean drinking water system. Residents dig wells on their land in Jakarta to extract clean water, which then causes subsidence. Climate change is not helping because it is boosting global sea levels — it’s a double whammy. How often did Widodo speak out against lack of climate action by the US during his term? None that I could immediately find via Google. And both Indonesian leaders have been mocked for their apparent lack of understanding of the need to balance economic development and new food production with the urgent need for nature and climate protection. Braver leadership is needed — not just in Indonesia).
Note – there is some evidence the government is seeking better water treatment.
Rangers and tourists at risk in gorgeous Indonesia’s booming, crowded travel industry
Despite some litter problems, it’d be hard not to recommend Indonesia’s booming tourism industry.
Great value for money, stunning creatures, amazing scenery, the people are super friendly and honest (as far as I could tell — ignoring a few little ripoffs and some people “trying their luck’).
I visited Komodo National Park and took part in the snorkling, lovely scenery. Safety standards are more relaxed, let’s say, in Indonesia vs in Europe (for example).
What I saw included overcrowded speedboats, tourists swimming too close to speedboat propellers, overcrowded hiking trails without enough handrails, Komodo park rangers taking apparently considerable risks to snap photos for tourists near very large dragons (and to win tips) — they carried improbably small sticks to ward off the 2-3 meter dragons; the sticks were placed on the ground in order to handle expensive iPhones and Samsung Galaxies in admirable fashion for tourists.
(The dragons pretend to be slow but can run faster than most humans — they are true badasses of the animal kingdom … they only need to feed about once a month I’m told and so perhaps the risk is managed that way, in part.)
The outrageous thing in my mind is that these lovely folks (the rangers) live in the village on Komodo Island which does not even have decent health facilities, I was told …and they are not paid properly. So the market structure (where they are incentivized to behave recklessly for tips) needs to be changed. I might be missing some information.
Attacks seem rare: https://www.newsweek.com/tourist-bitten-leg-komodo-dragon-594222
Another problem with Komodo National Park is that the jetties need upgrading. Currently up to six boats park side by side and tourists need to clamber across each boat to get to shore. I saw two people fall with my own eyes. One woman was fairly badly bruised as she fell between the boat and the jetty.
Further, currents can whisk tourists away …I saw two who needed to be rescued …and I enlisted some help after focusing too much on underwater filming and finding myself further away from the beach than I thought, with currents against me.
A further note to the two leaders above. With respect to your lovely country, it’s not cool to take fairly big money from tourists and yet not invest in facilities to make them safe. Working to close the gap between rich and poor would help too (again, not just in Indonesia).
NOTES
–Indonesia is seeking public-private investment in water treatment; few countries on earth do a good job on water treatment; I’m not singling out Indonesia — except to say it has a bigger incentive than most to do a good job because of its tourist trade.
–We were given safety briefings …but not on this (from the story linked above) — this is a tricky message to convey to female tourists … in any country let alone a conservative Muslim one: Avoid Visiting During Menstruation–Komodo dragons possess an incredibly acute sense of smell, capable of detecting blood from up to 5 kilometers away. To maintain safety and respect for the environment, it’s advisable not to visit Komodo Island while menstruating. If you find yourself in this situation, inform the ranger and undergo an olfactory test. If the dragons detect blood, you won’t be allowed to proceed further on the island and its surroundings.
–Rubbish can be intercepted in rivers before it gets to sea. See this from a BBC publication from 2020:
–For more details on the Goto Impact Foundation project, involved in the waste-treatment above, see this…and …