The tourist attraction of Bali is now a sea of waste. Thanks to the people

December 31, 2017

Photo source: dailymail.co.uk

A surf paradise, that are palm trees, wicker beach umbrellas, apple blue sea green water and pearly white beaches. Certainly a rubbish dump, full of plastic, washed up from the sea. Yet it is the reality in Bali, where the well-known Kuta Beach can not be compared to anything in the past. Thanks to man. The Indonesian authorities have declared the emergency situation. Not because of an upcoming storm or impending attack, but because the beaches on the Indian Ocean are dirty - and that is still an understatement. The government wants to do everything it can to save the tourist attractions and surfers from their downfall, but even the big resources do not seem to be doing much for it. Every day, no less than 700 cleaning men and women are busy. They pick up plastic and fill the 35 trucks that drive on and off to the nearest rubbish dump - good for 100 tons every day.

Photo source: dailymail.co.uk

"Staff in green T-shirts collect day in, day out garbage, but the next day the situation is the same again", say the tourists who know Kuta Beach through and through because they come every year on vacation, or rather came. "The amount of rubbish that is taken away by the ocean increases daily. Nobody wants to sunbathe, bathe or surf on a beach hat is so close by the mess." The situation worsens during the rainy season, from November to March. Then the strong wind and the flooded rivers chase even more waste to the sea, which in turn washes up on the beaches. Especially a strip of six kilometers long, along the busiest districts of Kuta, Jimbaran and Seminyak are the worst. The region normally attracts 5 million tourists every year.

Photo source: dailymail.co.uk

The dirt not only damages the ecosystem, but also the reputation of Bali as the dream island with its turquoise waters. The archipelago of Southeast Asia, the world's fourth most populous country with about 255 million inhabitants, is also the world's second largest producer of litter. After China, of course, where residents throw 1.29 million tons of garbage a year into the sea. "People do not seem to realize that there is a threat of massive fish mortality, that they also become sick of it, get cancer". To combat the scourge, Indonesia has now joined some forty countries participating in the UN Clean Ocean campaign that kicked off in early 2017. The government is now committed to reducing plastic waste from the sea by 70 percent by 2025. And more emphasis needs to be put on recycling - something they do not yet know, especially in Asian countries. For Gede Hendrawa, a researcher at Udayana University in Bali, this means: banning plastic bags in stores and appealing to the population not to throw waste in rivers and sea. And now hope that it goes the right way, because the photos only give you a crop in the throat (and a small outburst of anger).