JakartaPost-Sept 14
Bali suffered significant economic losses after severe flooding on Wednesday, an event authorities and residents described as the worst in years. According to the Bali Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the torrential rains on Tuesday and Wednesday triggered floods and landslides in Denpasar and six of Bali’s eight regencies, including Gianyar, Tabanan and Badung, killing 17 people and prompting the province to declare a week-long state of emergency. The agency estimated that total economic losses from damage to public facilities and buildings could reach Rp 28.9 billion as of Friday. This includes the destruction of 474 kiosks and shophouses on Sulawesi Street and at Kumbasari Market, valued at Rp 25.5 billion, damage to 29 buildings in Tabanan worth Rp 3.1 billion and additional losses from destroyed buildings in Bangli. Losses from other regencies have yet to be determined. “Environmental degradation, particularly the conversion of agricultural land into buildings, has made Bali more vulnerable to disasters,” Walhi Bali office director Made Krisna Dinata told The Jakarta Post on Friday. Citing Walhi’s data from 2018 to 2023, Krisna said land conversion rates in farmland across Tabanan, Badung, Gianyar and Denpasar ranged between 3 and 6 percent each year. The highest number of land conversions occurred in Tabanan, Bali’s largest rice producer, where more than 2,600 hectares of farmland were converted for non-agricultural purposes between 2018 and 2023. Badung followed with around 1,100 ha converted. The regency is home to many of Bali’s most popular tourist districts, including Kuta, Canggu, Seminyak and Nusa Dua. I Made Iwan Dewantama of the environmental group Abdi Bumi Foundation criticized the rampant construction of villas, hotels and houses near river buffer zones. “When the buffer zones practically no longer exist, water flows anywhere else,” he said. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/business/2025/09/14/bali-takes-massive-economic-hit-from-worst-flooding-in-years.html.
