Indonesia to ban construction of hotels, villas in Bali to tackle overdevelopment

Indonesia plans to suspend the construction of hotels, nightclubs and villas in popular holiday destination Bali to combat congestion and overdevelopment while preserving agricultural land amid increasing tourism.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan told the media on Sunday that the moratorium could stretch up to 10 years, depending on the government’s evaluation.

“We’ll see later [how long the moratorium is in effect]. It could be five years, it could be 10 years. It just depends on the evaluation,” Luhut said.

His comments came after Sang Made Mahendra Jaya, the acting governor of Bali, said on Saturday that he had submitted a proposal to the central government, identifying four busy areas on the island where construction would be suspended: Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan.

Mahendra told reporters the moratorium would tackle overdevelopment on the island for commercial purposes, primarily hotels, villas and beach clubs.