December 10, 2014

Qld Sex Offender Found in Bali School

A convicted Queensland sex offender has deported from Bali after being caught teaching English classes. An Australian man with prior convictions for improper dealings with children is due to be deported from Bali after being caught teaching English classes. 65-year-old John Peter Domenic Rigano was caught teaching English in Kuta earlier this month during a sweep by immigration officers. Rigano was sentenced to nine months’ jail in 2009, for indecently touching a teenage boy he was treating as a psychiatrist. (November 28th 2014)

Weather Bureau Expects Late Wet Season

The Bali branch of the Bureau of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) confirmed that unseasonal east to southeasterly winds are expected to push the start of the wet season till at least the middle of December. According to the Head of Bali’s BMKG, Wayan Suardana, the winds have caused recent temperatures to scorch above average for this time of year. “The east or southeast winds are dry causing it to be hot in Bali,” said Suardana. It is understood BMKG’s initial prediction for the commencement of the wet season was the middle of November. “The East to Southeasterly winds have affected the change in the wet west wind. The amount of rain has thus been below average,” Suardana added. “On average temperatures have been between 33 to 34 degrees Celsius. These are above average for this time of year,” he concluded. (November 21st 2014)

Bali Parade Promotes HIV/AIDS Awareness in Bali

The Bali Rainbow Community headed up a parade and HIV / AIDS awareness event on Legian beach on Sunday (30/11), one day before international AIDS day which falls in December 1st. The event was designed to promote AIDS awareness and prevention, the importance of safe sex, getting tested and understanding about HIV and AIDS in Bali. As many as 3,699 cases of HIV/AIDS were identified in Bali during the period of January-June 2014, with the majority of cases found South Bali. As Quoted in Kompas.com, the head of the provincial health service, Dr. Ketut Suarjaya said in Denpasar on Tuesday, July 1, 2014, “Depasar has the greatest number of cases of HIV/AIDS when compared to the remaining eight regencies and metropolitan areas of Bali.” The figures break down further to 1,876 cases of HIV and 1,823 cases of AIDS. The second highest number of HIV/AIDS cases are found in Buleleng in North Bali where1,632 cases of HIV/AIDS have been reported.Coming in third in terms of HIV/AIDS cases in Bali is the regency of Bandung with 1,343 cases. Ubud and its surrounding regency of Gianyar has reported 683 cases of HIV/AIDS. Tabanan 556 cases, Jembrana 505 cases, Karangasem 292 cases, Klungkung 219 cases and Bangli 170 cases. Many believe the true figures to be much higher. The primary cause of transmission was found to be unsafe-sex followed by (injectable) drug use. (December 1st 2014)

Celebrity Cruises Cancels Bali over Dispute

Celebrity Cruises said it will skip scheduled ports of call in Indonesia because of a dispute that it characterized as ethical in nature. It said that stops in Bali and Komodo were scrapped in favor of overnight calls to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand. Celebrity Millennium will also spend some additional time in Phuket, Thailand. In a statement, Celebrity said a dispute has arisen with local Indonesian authorities of a nature that it believes puts its legal and ethical standards at serious risk. “Because of this dispute, we have been advised that local officials may either prevent guests sailing on Celebrity Millennium from disembarking the ship in Bali, or prevent the ship from departing,” the statement said. (November 25th 2014)

Household Wastes Pollute 70 Percent of Indonesian Rivers

About 60-70 percent of the rivers in Indonesia are contaminated by domestic or household wastes, a deputy of Pollution Control at the Ministry of Environment M.R. Karliansyah stated here on Tuesday (25/11). “60 percent of the domestic wastes infiltrate the trunks of the rivers, and as many as 6.1 percent of the wastes are recyclable,” he affirmed. Although the amount of industrial waste infiltrating the rivers has been reduced to nearly 56 percent, yet the huge load of household waste still continues to pollute the rivers. “As long as the household waste continue to be dumped into the rivers, they will never be clean,” he pointed out. Contaminated river trunks will affect human health and the access to clean water. Moreover, most of the people living along the rivers used them for their daily activities. The implementation of the business-performance rating program (Proper) has led to a drop in river pollution levels due to industrial activity, remarked Karliansyah. (November 27th 2014)

Immigration Officials in Bali Nab Four ‘illegal’ Australians in Visa Crackdown

Immigration authorities in Bali are cracking down on foreigners working there without the appropriate visas and have nabbed four Australians, including one man who is due to be deported on Friday (28/11) to Australia. The Australians are among 11 foreigners nabbed by the Ngurah rai Immigration office this week during a two-day special operation. The number of foreigners deported from Bali for visa violations has almost doubled this year compared to last year and authorities have vowed to continue their crackdown. Three of the four Australians were found teaching in English language schools after entering Indonesia on tourist visas while the fourth was working at a hotel. (November 29th 2014)

Six-Year-Old Boy Receives Bravery Award for Saving Bali Boy

Levi Brooks, the six-year-old son of Olympic gold medal swimmer Neil Brooks, is to be awarded a Royal Life Saving Bravery Award. Levi, who turned six in September, was just five years old in July when he saved another little boy from drowning in Bali. Mum Elle Brooks posted on Facebook at the time that Levi had literally leapt in to the pool at their villa to rescue the four-year-old boy. The Indonesian boy, who couldn’t swim, fell into a pool, panicked and went under the water in seconds. “Levi was right there and jumped in without hesitation, swam down and brought him up to the edge of the pool,” Mrs. Brooks said. “What a little trooper. Very grateful in Oz we have a culture of teaching our kids how to swim at such a young age,” she wrote. The Royal Life Saving Bravery Awards are to be held at Government House Ballroom on December 8. Mrs. Brooks said Levi was “beyond excited” to be receiving the award, even though she and Neil had to explain to him what the award meant and how special it was. (December 1st 2014)

No More “Fast Track” at Bali Airport

I Gusti Kompiang Adnyana, the Head of the Bali Regional Office of the ministry of “Justice and Human Rights”, said he will ensure that there are no more rogue immigration officers who extort foreigners during the examination of travel documents at the Denpasar Ngurah Rai Airport. The statement refers to the issue of Immigration staff offering bribery to foreigners who don’t want to stand in the immigration queue for the passport control, often also called “Fast Track”. The issue of alleged illegal payments (bribes) taken by immigration officers came from comments from Made Pastika, the Governer of Bali, through complaints from foreigners who visit Bali. Governor Pastika says he will make a video recording of the poor service from the immigration officer at the airport. Moreover, when long lines occur at the passport control, the number of officers is actually at a minimum. “We will continue to better our services. We will try to improve in order to serve well,” he said. In addition, long lines take about 2-3 hours to serve 3,000 to 6,000 people. Under these circumstances, the number of immigration officers and technical services should be reconsidered so that tourists, especially foreigners to Bali, can feel comfortable. (November 27th 2014)