Money Talk - Tomy Winata’s Property Unit Continues With Benoa Bay Project

PT. Tirta Wahana Bali Internasional (TWBI), a property development unit of tycoon Tomy Winata’s Arta Graha Network, is continuing its Rp 30 trillion ($2.5 billion) reclamation project in Benoa Bay, Bali, after receiving state permits.

The project seeks to build hotels, convention center, and entertainment centers on more than 700 hectares of reclamation land in Benoa. Development of the area has been criticized by conservationists because the bay covers 3,000 hectares teeming with a rich mangrove ecosystem that feeds the local fishing community.

Still, Leemarvin Lieana, commissary at Tirta Wahana, said on Monday that leaving the bay in its current state, the ecosystem could degrade further due to illegal mangrove logging for firewood and littering.

“Not to mention sedimentation problem that will make the entire bay a dry land in 10 years,” Leemarvin said.

President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono issued a presidential decree that allowed reclamation of up to 700 hectares in Benoa Bay area. The decree replaced a 2011 version that protected Benoa Bay as conservation area. - Investor Daily -