Construction workers, community members, and tourists have come together to help tackle coastal erosion on Bali’s iconic Kuta Beach.
Following huge tidal swells over the last week, Bali’s Kuta Beach was once again badly impacted by high waves and tidal flooding.
Coastal erosion on Kuta Beach has been an issue for decades. As the tide rises and falls, it takes with it sand, eroding the world-famous beachfront at an increasingly rapid pace.
Over the years, there have been dozens of coastal erosion mitigation techniques trialed along the beachfront, but last week’s high waves and tidal swells were too strong for existing solutions to handle.
The Bali-Penida River Regional Center, the organization that carries out much of the beach conservation work, has confirmed that coastal management strategies in the Kuta and Seminyak areas will be reorganized, and sand will be filled.
This work is expected to start at the end of this month, but in the meantime, communities and tourists have come together to help prevent the situation from worsening in the short term.
On Saturday, 19th October, tourists and the community came together with shovels and shades to help build a sand embankment on Kuta Beach that will help prevent further erosion and act as a barrier for stall holders on the beachfront.
Speaking to reporters, the head of Kuta Village, Komang Alit Ardana, confirmed that abrasion at Kuta Beach is a natural phenomenon, especially during the full moon tide.
He noted, “This is common; almost all of the coasts of Bali experience it. After the tide, the sand will settle at one point. To overcome it, the traders and we do gotong royong.”
Gotong royong is a phrase with no direct translation in English, but it refers to mutual cooperation and collective community action for the common good.
The phrase is often used to describe activities where the community comes together to clean public spaces, share agricultural work, prepare for ceremonies, and even build homes.
Ardana told reporters, “Indeed, we do this activity regularly. Usually, we involve all people who do activities on the beach, including traders, to maintain cleanliness. This gotong royong activity has become a habit.”
He added, “So far, tourists have often helped. They really care about environmental cleanliness.”
Speaking to reporters, Danang Raditya from the Bali-Penida River Regional Center confirmed that conservation work on Kuta Beach through to Seminyak Beach, inclusive of Legian Beach, is set to start by the end of the month.
Raditya explained that four new breakwaters would be constructed at Kuta Beach and upgrades to an existing breakwater. Sand filling will also take place over a 5.5km stretch of the coast between Kuta and Seminyak.
Raditya explained, “Currently, we are waiting for contract approval from the Japan International Cooperation Agency as a fund lender. After the approval is issued, then the work start warrant (SPMK) can be issued.”
Raditya outlined the herculean task for sand filling in Kuta and Seminyak and explained, “Sand filling will be carried out for 5.5 kilometers. We will use sand from the sea, precisely from the sea trough area in Jimbaran. The volume of sand that will be taken is around 610,000 cubic meters.”
The work will be carried out in alignment with an environmental impact assessment, as is legally required. The environmental impact assessment, known locally as an AMDAL, is essential, especially given that the coastline between Kuta and Seminyak is a prime nesting site for endangered turtles.
Raditya confirmed, “This AMDAL process is an important step in ensuring that conservation projects do not damage marine ecosystems. We hope that all these processes will go smoothly and that the environmental permit will be issued soon.”
The high waves and tidal swells over the weekend have a lot impacted development work at Seminyak’s Batu Belig Beach.
Newly constructed paving blocks, built to develop a beach walk, were dislodged during the full moon surges, though construction teams are reported to be continuing work.
The Badung Regency Government is investing IDR 44 billion into renovations across the Kerobokan Beach Area with a specific focus on Batu Belig Beach.
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